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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT 




CHARTER OAK, 

As standing in Hartford in 1829. 

(Page 85.) 



PREFACE. 



Though Connecticut be the most flourish- 
ing, and proportionally, the most populous 
province in North America, it has hitherto 
found no writer to introduce it, in its own 
right, to the notice of the world. Slight and 
cursory mention in the accounts of other 
provinces, or of America in general, has 
yet only been made of it. The historians 
of New-England have constantly endeavor- 
ed to aggrandize Massachusetts Bay as the 
parent of the other colonies, and as com- 
prehending all that is worthy of attention, 
in that country. Thus governor Hutchin- 
son says, in the preface to his history of 
that province, " that there was no importa- 
tion of planters from England to any part of 
the continent, northward of Maryland, ex- 
cept to the Massachusetts, for more than 
fifty years after the colony began ;" not 
knowing or wilHng to forget or to conceal, 
that Saybrook, New-Haven, and Long 



4) PREFACE. 

Island, were settled by emigrantsyrom E7ig- 
land within half that period. Another rea- 
son for the obscurity in which the Connecti- 
tensians have hitherto been involved, is to 
be found among their own sinister views 
and purposes. Prudence dictated, that 
their deficiency in point of right to the soil 
they occupied, their wanton and barbarous 
persecutions, illegal practices, daring usur- 
pations, etc. had better be concealed than 
exposed to public view. To dissipate this 
cloud of prejudice and knavery, and to 
bring to light truths long concealed, is the 
motive of my offering the following sheets 
to the world. I am bold to assert, that 
Connecticut merits a fuller account than 
envy or ignorance has yet suffered to be 
given of it ; and that 1 have followed the 
line of truth freely, and unbiassed by par- 
tiality or prejudice. The reader therefore, 
will not be surprised, should I have placed 
the New Englanders in a different light from 
that in which they have yet appeared : their 
characterizers have not been sufficiently 
unprejudiced, unawed by power, or unaf- 
fected by the desire of obtaining it, alvva-ys 
to set them in the true one. Dr. Mather 



PREFACE. 



and Mr. Neal were popular writers ; but at 
the time they extolled the prudence and pi- 
ety of the colonists, they suppressed what 
are called in New England unnecessary 
truths. Governor Hutchinson who loved 
fame, and feared giving ofience, published a 
few only of those truths ; which failed not 
to procure him a proportionate share of 
popular distrust and odium. For my own 
part, I believe my readers will give me cre- 
dit, for having neither the favor nor the fear 
of man before me in writing this history 
of Connecticut. I discard the one ; I court 
not the other. My sole aim has been to 
represent the country, the people and their 
transactions in proper colors. 

Too much, however, must not be expect- 
ed from me. 1 am very sensible of many 
great defects in this performance, where- 
in very little assistance was to be obtain- 
ed from the publications, of others. Mr. 
(yhalmers indeed who is writing '•'Political 
Annals of the present United Colonic s^"^^ pur- 
sues that task with great pains and address. 
His researches have been of some use to 
me ; but, as to the New England writers, er- 
ror, disguise, and misrepresentation, too 

1* 



b PREFACE. 

much abound in them to be serviceable in 
this undertaking, though they related more 
to the subject than they do. The good-na- 
tured critic, therefore, will excuse the want 
of a regular and connected detail of facts 
and events, which it was impossible for me 
to preserve, having been deprived of papers 
of my ancestors which would have given 
my relation that and other advantages. I 
hope, therefore, for much indulgence, stri- 
king, as I have done, into a new and dark 
path almost wholly without a guide. If I 
have carried myself through it, though with 
some digressions, yet without incurring the 
danger of being accounted a deceiver, my 
disordered garb will, I presume, find an apo- 
logy in the ruggedness of the road, and my 
scripture phraseology be ascribed to the 
usage of my country. 

For three generations my forefathers were 
careful observers of the proceedings of the 
Connecticut colonists ; and if their papers 
and myself should continue in existence till 
a return of peace shall restore them to my 
possession, I trust the public will not be dis- 
pleased with the design I have of commit- 
ting them to the press. Jn the meantime, 



PREFACE. 



lest that event should never take place, I 
beg their acceptance of the present volume, 
which, whatever other historical requisite it 
may want, must, I think, be allowed to pos- 
sess originality and truth, (rare properties 
in modern publications,) and therefore, I 
hope, will not be deemed unworthy the pub- 
lic favor. 



PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITIOJV. 



The authorship of the volume entitled a 
" General History of Connecticut," has 
been, as it were, traditionally ascribed in 
this country, to the Rev. Samuel Peters, a 
clergyman of the church of England and a 
loyalist who lived in New England during 
the troubles which preceded the revolution- 
ary war. It is quite true, that Mr. Peters 
has never either asserted or denied his 
claim to the parentage of the work imputed 
to him ; yet, aside from the opinion univer- 
sally prevalent in New England, there is the 
most clear and satisfactory circumstantial 
evidence of his and our author's identity, 
derived from a comparison between his 
anonymous and acknowledged writings. 
Indeed, the fact may be very easily ascertain- 
ed by a slight examination of the work now 
published and the "History of Hugh Pe- 
ters," a book avowedly written by our au- 



10 PREFACE. 

thor ; in both of which, the most cursory and 
careless reader will discover in the reckless- 
ness of the style, and now and then, in the 
use of a pet phrase, the most certain indica- 
tions of the same hand.* But besides the 
internal evidence which may be gathered 
from a perusal of the works referred to, 
there are circumstances in the life of Mr. Pe- 
ters, which he has himself given to the 
world, which point him out as the undoubted 
author of the present volume. Certain it 
is, that a person answering the description 
given of the Rev, Samuel Peters, flourished at 
the time mentioned, in Hebron in Connecti- 
cut, who, by reason of his attachment to the 

*The following specimen may be taken as an example 
©f the many instances which occur in both books, passim. 

" Ten years ago, the great majority would sooner have 
run their heads against the burning mountains, than 
have lifted up a finger with a view to a political separa- 
tion from Great Britain." Hist, of Conn. App. 

" Had this not been the case, I believe Dr. Coke 
would sooner have run his head against a burning moun- 
tain, than have travelled over the West Indies, Ameri- 
ca and the united kingdom of Great Britain, and acted 
as he has done the part of a bishop." Hist, of Hugh 
Peters, by the Rev. Samuel Peters, LL. D. p. 13, note. 



PREFACE. 11 

church of England, and his open and avow- 
ed loyalty to the house of Hanover, was 
obliged to take refuge, from the turbulence 
of those times, under the wing of the royal 
army, which was, at that period, quartered 
in Boston for the purpose of enforcing obe- 
dience to the acts of the British parliament ; 
and who was afterwards under the necessity 
of making his escape to England and to 
leave his property and family to await the 
issue of the struggle which was then pend- 
ing between Great Britain and her rebelUous 
colonies. His book made its first appear- 
ance in London, in the year 1791 and, if 
public conjecture be correct, it must have 
been written during our author's residence 
in England, while the war of the revolution 
was at its height, and before the power 
of Great Britain was completely annihila- 
ted in the colonies of New England, it is 
in this way that we may very reasonably ac- 
count for the anonymous character of the 
work ; a character whieh has been thought, 
perhaps unjustly, to detract from its merits 
as a history ; as we may well suppose, that 
prudence would necessarily have suggested 



12 PREFACE. 

to the loyalists the policy of avoiding any 
course of conduct which might expose them 
to the odium of a people who were already 
sufficiently exasperated, and among whom 
were situated those possessions which they 
had been obhged to abandon, but which, 
they could not but hope, they might one 
day resume. Our author, therefore, had the 
best of all reasons for preserving his incog- 
nito^ without resorting to the supposition, 
that his book contained opinions and asser- 
tions which he might fmd it convenient, at 
some future period, to disavow, or which he 
mi^ht be ashamed to sive to the world un- 
der the sanction of his own name. The 
w^ork, as our author himself acknowledges 
in his preffice, contains some " unnecessary 
truths," but they were ''truths," nevertheless, 
which he might well hesitate to publish as 
an individual, knowing, as he must have 
known, that they were unwelcome " truths," 
v/hich might be turned to his prejudice and 
render his situation unhappy in the event of 
a restoration of the ancient regime in the 
colonies. Mr. Peters was a martyr to his 
principles, who sacrificed every thing in the 



PREFACE* 



13 



eause of his royal master, and as such, is en- 
titled to some indulgence in the expression 
of his sentiments and for the manner in 
which he has thought proper to give them 
publicity . He, certainly, of all men, has an 
undoubted right to his opinions, for they 
were purchased dearly ; and it is too much 
to expect, that after having sacrificed every 
thing but a miserable hope of a change of 
fortune, he should deliberately proceed to 
give the death-blow to that hope, by placing 
a weapon in the hands of his political adver- 
saries which might be turned against him- 
self and render that change any thing but 
desirable. To the same cause may also be as- 
cribed the frequent recurrence of passages 
in the body of the work, in which our author 
occasionally indulges himself in auto-biogra- 
phy when speaking in the third person, and 
now and then, in a strain of eulogy better 
suited to the character of a person who had 
been dead a century, than to that of one 
who was then hving ; a license which may 
startle the reader who has formed strict, 
and perhaps squeamish notions of the dig- 
nity and sobriety of historical relations- 

2 



14 PREFACE. 

He must not fail however, to bear in mind, 
as he goes along, that the Rev. Samuel 
Peters was too important and prominent a 
personage, to be passed over in silence, 
even in a *' general history of Connecti- 
cut," without disclosing what our author 
seems to have been particularly careful to 
conceal. The sanction of a name, there- 
fore, as it was not to have been expected at 
the time our author wrote, it would per- 
haps be unreasonable, at this day, to re- 
quire as a means of giving credit to his nar- 
rations : especially as the purposes for 
which they were written have been answer- 
ed, and as the course of events may possi- 
bly, have rendered such a measure prejudi- 
cial to the very numerous and respectable 
body of relations, now living, who have their 
descent from the same common ancestor. 
Still however, as has been before mention- 
ed, the objection, if indeed it may be deem- 
ed just, may now be considered as in some 
degree obviated, as public opinion together 
with the internal evidence derived from 
the book itself, have conspired to establish 
its authenticity and to do for the author 



PREFACE. 16 

what, from motives of prudence, he might 
perhaps scruple to do for himself. 

Taking it for granted then, that the con- 
jectures which have been formed respecting 
the connection of Mr. Peters with the work 
imputed to him, are well founded, it may 
justly be expected, that in the first Ameri- 
can edition of his book, a more detailed 
account should be given of an author who 
has rendered himself famous both in Old 
and New England. This duty is rendered 
more pressing, as the means of information 
are at hand, which may not be very gener- 
ally in the possession of a great majOriiy of 
readers. Some light is thrown upon his 
genealogy in the present volume, but, a 
more particular account of his family and 
descent is contained in the work, to which 
allusion has before been made, bearing his 
name upon the title-page. No one howev- 
er, but a pains-taking antiquary would sub- 
mit to the trouble of following the author 
through the very minute details of that vol- 
ume ; nor would the most diligent inquirer 
find his labor rewarded by any adequate re- 
turn. A meaning which does not stare one 
\x\ the face, is, to the vast variety of readers, 



16 



PREFACE. 



as good as no meaning at all ; and to 
such it cannot but prove a most grateful 
service to exhibit in a clear and condensed 
form, what would perhaps cost them con- 
siderable time to accomplish. Genealogy, 
unless it be that of one's own family, is at best 
a barren and perplexing subject ; and that 
of the house of Peters is found to be pecu- 
liarly embarrassed, not only from its almost 
unaccountable increase, but from the perpet- 
ual recurrence of the same favorite names, 
which seem to have been cherished, with 
peculiar fondness, from generation to gen- 
eration. The heads of that family left, one 
of them, sixteen children, and the rest with- 
out an exception, no less than six sons and 
a brace or two of daughters not accounted 
for, all of whom received and transmitted 
to their posterity the old family appellatives, 
such as John, Andrew, Thomas, William, 
Samuel, Joseph, with now and then, an oc- 
casional variation in favor of Bemslee, 
Birdseye, or Jonathan. The first law of 
nature seems never to have received so 
practical an illustration as in this case ; and 
without meaning to revive old jealousies or 
to stigmatize an ancient and certainly very 



prefacp:. 



17 



numerous family, it is to be hoped that it 
may be stated, without giving offence, that, 
from the very rapid increase of the posterity 
of John and Mary Peters of Hebron, since 
the year 1717, which amounted, in the short 
period of ninety years to about two hundred 
and fifty souls, our author himself deduces 
an argument against the deists in favor of 
the Mosaic account of the three-score and 
ten Jews, that went into Egypt and after 
four hundred years, returned to Palestine, 
under the command of Moses, in a body of 
five millions. 

The Rev. Samuel Peters, the reputed au- 
thor of the work now first pubhshed in this 
country, was the fourth son of John Peters, 
of Hebron in Connecticut, and the great- 
grand son of Wm. Peters, Esq. one of three 
brothers William, Thomas, and Hugh, of an 
ancient and opulent family in England, who 
migrated to this country in the year of 
grace 1634. The fanatical irregularities 
and extravagances of these men, (of whom 
the two last were silenced clergymen and 
the former a private gentleman,) had render- 
ed them obnoxious to the Star-Charaber 

2* 



18 PREFACE. 

Court, and were the more immediate causes 
of their taking refuge in what was termed, 
in the language of the day, "a howUng 
wilderness." The Rev. Thomas Peters set- 
tled at Saybrook, where he established the 
school which has since grown up into the 
flourishing university of Yale College. Hugh 
settled in Salem in Massachusetts, and 
afterwards in Boston, where he attained 
eminence as a scholar and divine. During 
the discontents which afterwards arose be- 
tween king Charles and his parliament, he 
was induced by the court at Boston, to as- 
sume the office of agent to Great Britian; 
an agency which was undertaken by 
him, under color of petitioning for some 
abatement of customs and excise. His 
real commission, however, seems to have 
been to assist in blowing up the coals be- 
tween the king and parliament, and per- 
haps, to gratify a lurking spirit of revenge, 
which he may well be supposed to have enter- 
tained, towards the bishops and court who 
had turned him out of the church for his fa- 
natical conduct. On his arrival in London, 
he was taken into the service of the parlia- 



PREFACE, 



19 



nient, and was afterwards liberally patroni- : 
zed by them at the expense of Archbishop i 
Laud, whose library and office, as well as i 
his estate and palace at Lambeth, fell into 
his hands ; all which he kept till the Resto- \ 
ration, when he paid for his zeal, his puri- | 
tanism and rebellion on a gibbet at Cha- I 
ring-Cross. He left but one daughter, who i 
was married to a gentleman in Rhode-island; j 
and as the Rev. Thomas Peters left no i 
child, all of the name of Peters, in the six \ 
states of New England, have their descent 
from William Peters, Esq. who settled near | 
Boston in 1664. Our author has his de- ^ 
scent also, on the mother's side, from Ma- j 
jor General Thomas Harrison, who figures i 
so conspicuously in one of the Waverly 
novels, and who, as is well known, suffered 
the fate of all those who had taken an ac- | 
live part in the murder of the first Charles. 
This event, as well as the death of the mar- 
tyr Hugh, is duly commemorated in one of 
those unique passages which have been | 
before mentioned, as contained in the | 
present volume ; and also in the " History ; 
of Hugh Peters," to which allusion has also 



20 



PREFACE. 



beenmade.^ Mr.Peters became a clergyman 
of the church of England m 1760, and ac- 
cording to his account, " was the first of 
that name in Ne\Y England, who deviated 
from the rehgious system of his renowned 
ancestors, and for it he was driven from his 
country, his property and family in 1774;" 



*" Here (Hebron) also reside some of the descend- 
ants of Wilham Peters, Esq. already spoken of, among 
whom is the Rev. Samuel Peters, an episcopal clergy- 
man, who by Ins generosity and zeal for the church of 
England and loyalty to the house of Hanover, has 
rendered himself famous both in New and Old England, 
and in some degree made an atonement for the fanati- 
cism and treasons of his uncle Hugh, and of his ances- 
tor on his mother's side, Major Gen. Thomas Harrison 
both hanged at Charing-Cross in tlie last century.'' 
History of Conn. 

"Samuel Peters, LL. D., «on of John and MaryPe- 
ters of Hebron, born A. D. 1717, a clergyman of the 
church of England, was rector of the churches in Hebron 
and Hartford in Connecticut until 1774, when he went 
to England to shun the turbulence and madness of those 
times. He is reputed to have the faculties of his mole 
Hugh, the zeal and courage of his grandparent Gen 
Thomas Harrison, mixed with the benevolence that 
characterized his great-grand parent William Peters 
Esq. of 1 634." History of Hugh Peters, p. 1 1 6 



PREFACE. "^* 



and, it may be added, was obliged to take 
refuse in England, whither his ahcestors 
had,''for the same reason, fled in 16b4. It 
was there that he had leisure, durmg ijie 
American war, to prepare his book lor 
the press, though deprived of the assistance 
which he might have derived from the pa- 
pers and documents which he left behind 
him in the hurry of his removal from this 
country. He was afterwards elected by 
the suffrages of a body of episcopalians and 
sectarians to the episcopate of Vermont, 
a connection however, which was never 
consummated, owing to some difficulties in 
obtaining his consecration at the hands ot 
the English bishops. He returned agam to 
this country, about the year 1800, and m 
„-.1809, published in New- York his » History 
of Hu-h Peters." For aught that is now 
known^ie may be living at this day,to wit- 
ness the triumph of what he consider- 
ed as rebellion against rightful sovreignty, 
and to acknowledge the truth of the senti- 
ment of the bard of Avon : 

.' When treason prospers, none dare call it treason." 

Mr. Peters' book has certainly acquired 
in this country, a reputation by no means 



PREFACE. 



enviable as a history; a reputation, how- 
ever which was formed when the rancor 
of party was still unextinguished, and be- 
fore men's minds had sufficiently recovered 
from the excitement of the Revolution, to 
judge fairly of a work which bore upon 
Its face the mark of a tory's hand. Mr. 
Peters,^ in the language of his time, was a 
'' torf' of the ultra stamp, and as appears 
from the free and discursive style which he 
adopted, evidently wrote under the influ- 
ence of excited feelings. Indeed,it can hard- 
ly be expected, that writing as the author 
didj in a state of voluntary exile from every 
thing that was dear or valuable on earth, 
he should fail to mingle with his history, 
something by way of justification of the 
prmciples for which he had been content to 
make sacrifices; and yet, there is no man 
who may be said to be so little indebted 
to a charitable consideration of his feel- 
ings, motives, or political principles, as 
the author, who has dared to publish, 
what has been called a " libel on this coun- 
try," simply because it is not eulogy. The 
time has been, and perhaps, has not yet 
gone by, when the mere mention of the 



PREFACE. 23 



\ 



work was associated with the heart-burn- 
ings and jealousies of the whig and tory 
factions, and seldom failed to bring down 
upon the author a load of obliquy as un- 
merited as it was unjust and unreasonable. 
It is to be hoped, however, that the pubhc 
are now prepared to lay aside old prejudi- 
ces, and to judge of the work with candor 
and magnanimity. It certainly contains 
some facts, such as the history of Grigson's 
will and some others, which cannot be gain- 
said, as they have happened within the re- 
collection of many persons now living ; 
though there are doubtless others which 
are to be taken with some grains of allow- 
ance, and from which some deductions 
will justly be made, on the score of certain 
predilections and prejudices which the au- 
thor is known to have entertained. He 
probably might forgive but he could not 
forget that notable tetrastic, which was 
put into the mouth of his hero by the au- 
thor of Mc. Fingal : 

" What warnings had ye of your duty 
From our old Rev'rend Sam. Auchmuty : 
From priests of all degrees and metres, 
To our fag-end man Parson Peters?" 



24 PREFACE. 

As was to be expected, therefore, he has 
done himself ample justice, in his notice of 
some of the ancestors of the Trumbull 
family, by visiting the sins of the fathers 
upon some of their hudibrastic chil- 
dren. With these quahfications, howev- 
er, and others which will suggest them- 
selves to every one acquainted with the 
history of those times; with a proper de- 
gree of consideration also for the coloring 
which the author would naturally give to 
facts, the work may be safely considered 
as entitled to credit as a veracious history. 
In cases where it could be done with con- 
venience, and without embarrassing the 
reader, extracts have been made from works 
of approved authority, and arranged in a 
supplement, by way of confirming the text. 
This has been thought necessary, not with a 
view to obtain a character for the work which 
of itself, it did not before possess, (tor it 
must stand upon its own botiom,) but merely 
for the sake of doing justice to the author, 
by counteracting an impression which has 
gone abroad unfavorable to its reputation. 



HISTORY, &c. 



After several unsuccessful attempts to form 
settlements in the southern parts of North Ameri- 
ca, in which little more had been done than giv- 
ing the name Virginia, in compliment to the 
virgin-queen Elizabeth, to the country, a patent 
was obtained in 1606, from James I. by Sir 
Thomas Gates and associates, of all lands there 
between the 34th and 45th degrees of north lati- 
tude : and at the patentees' own solicitation, they 
were divided into two companies, commonly de- 
nominated the London and Plymouth Companies; 
to the former of which were granted all the lands 
between the 34th and 41st degrees of north lati- 
tude, and to the latter all those between the 38th 
and 45th degrees. A part of the coast of the 
territory last mentioned being explored in 1614, 
and a chart presented to the then Prince of 
Wales, afterwards Charles I. it received from him 
the appellation of New England. 

In the meantime, however, notwithstanding the 
claim of the English in general to North America, 
and the particular grant to Sir Thomas Gates and 
associates, above mentioned, the Dutch got foot- 
ing on Manhattan or New-York Island, pushed up 
Hudson's river as high as Albany, and were begin- 

3 



26 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

ing to spread on its banks, when in 1614, they 
were compelled by Sir Samuel Argal to acknow- 
ledge themselves subjects of the King of England, 
and submit to the authority of the governor of 
Virginia.* 

For the better enabling them to accomplish 
their American undertakings, the Plymouth Com- 
pany, in 1620, obtained a new patent, admitting 
new members of rank and fortune. By this they 
were styled " The Council, established at Ply- 
mouth, for planting and governing that country 
called New-England," and to them were now 
granted all the lands between the 40th and 48th 
degrees of north latitude, and extending east and 
west from the Atlantic ocean to the south sea, 
except such as were then actually possessed by 
any christian prince or people. f Not long after- 
wards, the patentees came to the resolution of 
making a division of the country among themselves 
by lot, which they did in the presence of James 
I. The map of New England, etc. published by 
Purchas in 1625, which is now become scarce, 
and probably the only memorial extant of the re- 
sult, has the following names on the following por- 
tions of the coast : 

Earl of Arundel ) Between the rivers St. 

Sir Ferdinando Gorges > Croix and Penobscot. 
Earl of Carlisle ) 

*Supplement, Note A. fSupplement, Note B. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 



27 



Lord Keeper 

Sir William Belasis 

Sir Robert Mansell 

Earl of Holderness 
Earl of Pembroke 
Lord Sheffield 
Sir Henry Spelraan 
Sir William Apsley 
Captain Love 
Duke of Buckingham 
Earl of Warwick 
Duke of Richmond 
Mr. Jennings 
Dr. Sutcliffe 



) Between Penobscot and 
i Sagadahoc river. 



Between Sagadahoc 
and Charles river. 



Lord Gorges 
Sir Samuel Argal 
Dr. Bar. Gooch 



f Between Charles river 
C and Narraganset. 

In the above map, no names appear on the 
coast north of the river St. Croix, i. e. Nova Sco- 
tia, which was relinquished by the patentees in 
favor of Sir William Alexander : the coast west 
of Narraganset is not exhibited by Purchas, so 
that it is uncertain whether the division above 
mentioned extended to that or not. Probably, it 
was not then sufficiently explored. However, in 
1635, the patentees, from the exigency of their 
affairs, thinking a surrender of their patent to the 
King, with reservation of their several rights in 
regard to the property of the land, an adviseable 
measure, a new division of the coast was struck 



' ! 



28 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

out, consisting of twelve lots, extending to and 
comprizing land on the west side of Hudson's 
river, and of course the Dutch settlements at 
Manhattan. The following is an account of these 
lots : 

" 1. From the river St. Croix to Pemaquid, 

2. From Pemaquid to Sagadahoc. 

3. The land between the rivers Amarascoggin 
and Kennebec. 

4. From Sagadahoc along the sea-coast to 
Piscataqua. 

5. From Piscataqua to Naumkeak (or Salem.) 

6. From Naumkeak, round the sea-coast by 
Cape Cod, to Narraganset. 

7. From Narraganset to the half-way bound 
between that and Connecticut river, and so 
fifty miles up into the country. 

8. From the half-way bound to Connecticut 
river, and so fifty miles into the country. 

9. From Connecticut river, along the sea-coast, 
to Hudson's river, and so up thirty miles. 

10. From the thirty miles end to cross up forty 
miles eastward. 

H. From the west side of Hudson's river thir- 
ty miles up the country towards the fortietli 
degree, where New England beginneth. 

12. From the end of the thirty miles up the 
said river, northward thirty miles further, 
and from thence to cross into the land forty 
miles." — Hutch. Hist, of Mass. Ba^. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 29 

These divisions werejimmediately on the above- 
mentioned surrender, to be confirmed by the 
King to the proprietors ; and proposed to be 
erected into so many distinct provinces, under 
one general governor of New England. It is cer- 
tain that this plan u^as not then carried into exe- 
cution in the whole. Several, if not all, of the 
lots were formally conveyed to their respective 
owners previous to the resignation of the patent. 
How many were confirmed by the king, is not 
known; there is positive evidence but of one — 
to Sir Ferdinando Gorges. 

The eighth and ninth lots nearly form the 
province of Connecticut, taking its name from 
the great Indian king who reigned when thcs 
English made their first inroads into the country,. 

But before I give an account of that event, it 
may be proper to premise a few particulars con- 
cerning the Dutch, already spoken of as having 
seated themselves on New-York Island and the 
banks of Hudson's river ; and also concerning the 
settlements formed by the English in and near 
the Massachusetts-Bay. 

The same year which established the Council 
at Plymouth, established also the Dutch West- 
India Company, to whom the states of Holland 
are said to have granted, the year after, all the 
lands between the capes Cod and Henlopen. 
Under their encouragement and support, th^ 

^* 



30 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

Dutch at New- York were induced to look upon 
the act of Argal with contempt ; accordingly they 
revolted from the allegiance he had imposed up- 
on them, cast off the authority of their English 
governor, and proceeded in their colonizing pur- 
suits under one of their own nation: in which 
they seem to have employed their wonted indus- 
try, having, before the year 1637, erected a fort 
on the spot where Hartford now stands. 

A party of Briywnists, who, in 1619, are said 
to have obtained a grant of land from the Vir- 
giniaCompany, set sail on the 6th of September, 
in the following year, for Hudson's river; but 
making on the 11th of November, the harbor of 
Cape Cod, instead of the plac-e of their destina- 
tion, and finding themselves not in a fit condition 
to put to sea again at such a late season of the 
year, they ranged along the coast till a commo- 
dious situation presented itself, where they dis- 
embarked, and founded the colony of New Ply- 
mouth. 

Seven years afterwards, a party of Puritans pro- 
cured a grant of the lands from Merrimack river 
to the southernmost part of Massachusetts-Bay. 
They made their first settlement at Naumkeak, 
by them new named Salem; and a second at 
Charlestown. Great numbers of the puritanic 
sect followed their brethren- to New Ei:^land; so 
^Ijat within a few years were laid the foundatioBj^ 



HI3T0RV OF eONNECTICUT. SI 

©f Boston and other towns upon the Massachu 
setts coast.* 

Thu!i far had colinization taken place in the 
neighboring country, when, in 1634, the first 
part of English adventurers arrived in Connecti- 
cut from England,! under the conduct of George 
Fenwick, Esq ; and the Rev. Thomas Peters, and 
established themselves at the mouth of the river 
Connecticut, where they built a town which they 
called Saybrook, a church and a fort. J 

In 1G36 another party proceeded froui Boston 
under the conduct of Mr. John Haynes and the 
Rev. Thomas Hooker; and in June settled on 
the west bank of the Connecticut river, wherei 
Hartford now stands, notwithstanding the Dutch 
had found their way thither before them.§ 

A third party of English settlers in Connecti- 
cut were headed by Mr. Theophilus Eaton and 
the Rev. John Davenport, who left England ear- 
ly in 1637, and contrary to the advice of the people 
of Massachusetts-Bay, who were very desirous of 
their settling in that province, fixed themselves, 



* Supplement, Note C. 

fMather, Neal, HutrJiinson, and other writers of New- 
England history, have uniformly deviated irom the trutji 
in representing Connecticut as having heen first settled by 
emigrants from their darling Massachusetts-Bay. 

^Supplement' Notes Band E. 

^Supplement, Notes F and G. 



o2 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

in July following, on the north side of a smaFf 
bay wherein the river Quinnipiack empties itself, 
forty miles S. W. of Hertford, and there built 
the town of New-Haven.* 

Thus, within the space of three years was Con- 
necticut seized upon by three distinct English 
parties, in three different places, forming a trian- 
gle ; — by what authority I will novv^ beg leave to 
inquire. 

In favor of the first, it is alleged, that they pur- 
chased part of the lands belonging to the Lords 
Say and Brook, which lands included the Sth 
and 9th lots, nnd had been assigned to those 
Lords by the Enrl of Warwick, who, about the 
year 1630, obtained a grant of the same from 
the Council of Plymouth, and a patent from the 
K'ng; and thatFenwick was properly commission- 
ed to settle and govern the colony. 

Neal, Douglas, and Hutchinson, speak of this 
grant and assignment with the greatest confi- 
dence; but make no reference where either may 
be consulted. They were very willing to believe 
what they said ; and wished to palm it upon the 
credulity of their readers as a fact too well es- 
tablished to need proof. I shall endeavor to 
shew the futility of their assertions. Indeed, 
xMr. Hutchinson himself inadvertently gives rea- 

♦Supplement, Note H. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT 3S 

son to doubt the truth of them. Writing of the 
transactions of 1G22, "The Earl of Warwick," 
says he, " we are assured, had a patent for the 
Massachusetts-Bay about the same time, but the 
bounds are not known." It will appear presently 
that a part of the territory in question was, in 
1635, granted to the Marquis of Hamilton. Now, 
taking these several items together, the Council 
of Plymouth are represented to have granted, not 
only Massachusetts-Bay in 1622, but also, in 
1630, a region of vast extent, including Connec- 
ticut,to the Earl of Warwick ; and then, in 1635, 
to have regranted the best part of the latter to 
the Marquis of Hamilton. There is an infeasi- 
bility in this supposition, that, without proof, will 
deprive it of all credit among persons who have 
no particular interest in the support of it. 

True it is, thatFenwick and his associates were 
properly authorized to settle upon lands belong- 
ing to Lords Say and Brook ; but that the lands 
they did settle upon were the property of the 
Earl of Warwick, is not only without proof, but 
against it. It seems to be generally agreed, that 
the Lords Say and Brook were understood to 
have a right to lands upon Connecticut river; 
but that river being 500 miles long, and run- 
ning through the greatest part of New-England, 
the situation of their property was by no means 
pointed out : whether it lay at the mouth, the 
n^iiddle, or the northern end, was equally unascer- 



34 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

tained. The settlers, indeed, established them- 
selves at the mouth ; but without shewing their 
right to the spot : they licentiously chose it. 
There never has been produced any writing of 
conveyance of the land in question from the 
Council of Plvmouth to the Earl of Warwick, or 
from the Earl of Warwick to the Lords Say and 
Brook; and therefore their title to it must be 
deemed not good in law. By a letter from Lord 
Say to Mr. Vane, in 1635, it appears, that he 
[Lord Say,] Lord Brook, and others, had thoughts 
of removing to New-England, but were not de- 
termined whether to join the adventurers in Bos- 
ton, or to settle a new colony. — Hutch. Hist. Vol. 
L p.42. If Connecticut had bi^en assigned to Lords 
Say and Brook by the Earl of Warwick, as it is pre- 
tended was done in 1631, it is very strange that 
thoseLords should have been in doubt in ' 635 where 
to fix themselves in New-England, since interest 
and ambition, as well as fertility of soil, would 
naturally have led them to settle in Connecticut, 
where they had land of their own, and where a 
settlement was already begun, and bore a very 
promising appearance. Hence it seems but rea- 
sonable to suppose, that, if Lords Say and Brook 
were entitled to any land on Connecticut river, it 
could not lie within the province of Connecticut; 
and if their claims were derived from the Earl of 
Warwick, it may fairly be concluded, that their 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 36 

property lay much higher up the country, since 
the cc*tet appropriated to the Earl of Warwick 
by Purchas is that at or about Cape Ann. Lords 
Say and Brook, therefore, might have a right to 
send Fenwick, Peters, etc. to colonize upon the 
northern parts of Connecticut river, but not south- 
wardly at the mouth of it : and their neglect of 
the colony at Saybrook may easily be accounted 
for, by supposing that they were sensible the 
settlers had fixed upon a wrong site : an idea cor- 
roborated by this circumstance, that Fenwick 
some years after, sold his property there for a 
mere trifle, when he might have sold it dear, if 
his title had been good. 

But it may be asked, who were the real propri- 
etors of the eighth and ninth lots? 

It is asserted, that, on the Council of Pymouth's 
resignation of their patent to Charles I. in 1635, 
that monarch granted the latter to the Earl of 
Stirling. Possibly there is not now existing any 
written testimony of this grant ; yet it seems 
authenticated by the sale which the Karl made, in 
1639, by his agent Forrest, of the eastern part of 
Long Island as appertaining to his lot, to Mr. 
Howell. However, though his claim is not, per- 
haps, clearly to be established, it is by no means 
liable to the many objections urged against that 
of Lords Say and Brook, which will in a manner 
be annihilated by the additional argument I am 



36 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

now going to adduce from the positive proof 
there is, to whom the eighth lot really be|i|i)gs. 

It stands authenticated in the office of the 
Lords Commissioners of Colonies, that, in April, 
1635, was conveyed to James, Marquis ot Hamil- 
ton, by a deed from the Council of Plymouth, the 
territory lying between Narraganset bay and 
Connecticut river. — JVew-England Rec. A. p. 
201. The right to the eighth lot, therefore, was 
clearly vested in the Marquis ; and it only re- 
mains to be shewn why his descendants are not 
in possession of it, to remove every doubt upon 
the matter.* 

Unfortunately, in the civil broils of his time, 
the Marquis engaged and died fighting under 
royal banners, while the king's enemies took pos- 
session of his lands in Connecticut. At the resto- 
ration of Charles II. to his crown, reason taught 
the children of loyal sufferers to expect a restora- 
tion at least of their landed property ; and the 
daughter of the Marquis of Hamilton petitioned 
Charles II. to grant her relief in respect to the 
land lying between Narraganset bay and Connec- 
ticut river; a relief she had the more reason to hope 
for, as •' her father had died fighting for his father." 
But Charles hnd been too much polished in for- 
eigrt courts to do any thing efifectual for his suf- 

*Supplemcnt, Note I. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. $7 

fering friends. Afterwards the Earl of Arran 
applied to William III. for redress in regard to 
the same land ; but that Earl, having acted on 
the wrong side at the Revolution, could not but 
expect as little from William as the friends of 
Charles II. had received from him. However, 
William III. ordered the Lords Commissioners of 
Colonies to state his title, which they fairly did ; 
and the Earl was referred to try his cause in 
Connecticut — before the very people who had 
his lands in possession. The governor and com- 
pany of Connecticut gave a formal answer to the 
claims of the Earl of Arran, setting up a title un- 
der the Earl of Warwick, as is above mentioned, 
who, they said, disposed of the land in dispute to 
Lord Say and Seal and Lord Brook, and the 
Lords Say and Brook sold the same to Fenwick, 
Peters, and others. The Earl of Arran answer- 
ed, that " when they produced a grant from the 
Plymouth Company of those lands to the Earl of 
Warwick, it should have an answer :" but the 
Colony was silent ; and king William was silent 
aho.— Vide Rec. New-Eng. A. p. 170—201. 

Since, then, no proof of any title derived from 
the Earl of Warwick could be produced by the 
Governor and Company of Connecticut, when the 
question of right to the country was fairly brought 
into litigation, and since there is a record of the 
grant of the eastern part of it to the Marquis of 

Hamilton, it is evident, that the claim of the 

4 



38 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

present possessors under Lords Say and Brook is 
not valid. The record of the Marquis of Hamil- 
ton's grant is an irrefragible proof that those 
Lords had no right to tfie tract between Narra- 
ganset bay and Connecticut river; and thence 
the conclusion is fair, that they had no right to 
the tract between Connecticut and Hudson's riv- 
er ; for their title to both having but one and the 
same foundation, it follows of course, that what 
destroys it in the former, destroys it in the latter 
also. 

However disputable the Earl of Stirling's claim 
to the land between Hudson and Connecticut riv- 
ers may be, the Duke of Hamilton is undoubtedly 
the rightful owner of that between the latter and 
Narraganset bay. Thus much I have proved to 
shew the errors of Marther, Neal, Douglas, and 
Hutchinson, who assert what the above Record 
contradicts. I differ in opinion also with divines, 
who say that the world grows every year worse 
than it was the last. I believe the world is grow- 
ing better every year; and that justice will be 
administered to the Duke of Hamilton, and other 
noble proprietors of lands in New-England, who 
have been wickedly supplanted by the emigra- 
tions of puritans, republicans, regicides, and smug- 
glers. The time, I hope, is hastening, when 
the records I have quoted will be considered, 
and unjust possessors be ordered to give up their 
possessions to the right owners ; for we have a 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 39 

king who honors his crown, and prefers justice 

to policy. 

Hooker and Haynes, who conducted the se- 
cond of the three English parties already spoken 
of as making inroads into Connecticut, and who 
fixed their head-quarters at Hartford, left Massa- 
chusetts-Bay for the same reason they had before 
left England — to avoid being persecuted, and to 
acquire the power to persecute. Hooker was 
learned, ambitious, and rigid. He lived near 
Boston two years, in hopes of becoming a great- 
er favorite with the people than the celebrated 
Mr. Cotton ; but finding himself rather unlikely 
to meet with the desired success, he devised the 
project of flying into the wilderness of Connecti- 
cut, to get a name. Accordingly, in 1635, he 
applied to the General Court for leave to remove 
thither, but was then refused. The next year, 
however, for reasons which will hereafter appear, 
he found the fanatics more compHant; and he 
and Haynes obtained permission to emigrate in- 
to Connecticut, carrying with them, as Mr. Neal 
expresses it, " a sort of commission from the gov- 
ernment of Massachusetts-Bay for the administra- 
tion of justice" there. But it cannot be suppo- 
sed that Hooker and his associates could derive 
any title to the soil from this permission and com- 
mission granted by the Massachusetts Colony, 
who had not the least right to it themselves. The 
emigrants not only did not entertain any such 



40 HISTORY OP CONNECTICUT. 

idea, but, as soon as they had discovered a situa- 
tion which pleased them, they even set at nought 
the commission they took with them, the profess- 
ed object of which was to secure the authority 
and jurisdiction claimed by the Massachusetts 
over them. Knowing that they had passed the 
limits of that province, they voted themselves an 
independent people, and commenced despots, 
pleading the old adage, Salus Populi suprema 
Lex. It has never been suggested, I believe, 
that this party entered Connecticut with any oth- 
er semblance of authority than this ridiculous 
permission and commission of the Massachusetts 
dictators.* 

As to the third party,, headed by Eaton and 
Davenpart, they took possession, as is already 
mentioned, without even pretending any pur- 
chase, grant, permission, or commission, from any 
one. 

Of these three parties, then, it appears that 
the two last had not the least shadow of original 
right to the lands they possessed themselves of in 
Connecticut; and the claims of the first I have 
shewn to be ill founded. I will now consider 
the right they are pretended to have acquired 
after possession ; in regard to which they seem to 
have been put upon the same footing, by a 
general war between them and the Indians, oc- 



^Supplement. Notes K and I^ 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 41 

casioned by the ambitious, oppressive and unjust 
conduct of Hooker and Davenport. This war 
opened a door to king-killing and king-making, 
violence and injustice, in America, similar to 
Vi^hat we have of late years shuddered to hear of 
in Isidia. Hence the Colonies have endeavored 
to e^tablish a title to the lands by purchase of the 
natives; accordingly they have produced deeds 
of sale signed by Sunksquaw, Uncas, Joshua, 
Moodus, and others, whom Mr. Neai and Dr. Ma- 
ther call Sachems, and consequently owners of 
the soil. Whether those gentlemen knew, or 
did not know, that Connecticut was owned by 
three Sachems only, who with their wives and 
families were killed by the English, and who 
never would give a deed of any land to the Dutch 
or English, is not material; since it is a fact, that 
not one of those Indians who have signed those 
famous deeds, was ever a Sachem, or aproprieter 
of a single foot of land claimed by the Colony. 

It is true, that Uncas (whom Mr. Neal calls a 
Sachem, because the Colonists declared him King 
of Mohegin, to reward hsm for deserting Sassa- 
cus. Sachem of the Pequods) gave deeds of lands 
that he had no right or title to ; and so did Sunk- 
squaw, who, after murdering his Sachem, Quin- 
nipiog, was also declared Sachem by the English 
Dominion* of New-Haven » Gratitude, or pride,. 

* Dominion^ in New-England, signifies a sovereign, inde- 
pendent state, nncorrt reliable by any otfer earthly power. 

4* 



42 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

induced all those English-made Sachems to as- 
sign deeds to their creators. 

After the death of Uncas, his eldest son Oneko 
became King of Mohegin, who refused to grant 
any deeds of land to the Colony ; whereupon, 
vexed at his wisdom and honor, they declared 
him an incestuous son, deposed him, and pro- 
claimed his natural brother Abimeleck to be Sa- 
chem of the Mohegins. Oneko gave a deed of 
all his lands to Mason and Harrison who were his 
friends; as did Abimileck, of the same lands, to 
the Colony who had made him Sachem. This 
laid a foundation for a suit at law, which was 
first tried before the Judges of the colony, where 
Mason of course lost his suit. He appealed to 
the King in Council, who ordered a special court 
to sit at Norwich, in Connecticut ; and Mr. Dud- 
ley, a learned man, and Governor of Massachu- 
setts-Bay, was the President of it. This Court, 
met, and, having heard the evidence and plead- 
ings of both parties, gave a verdict in favor of Ma- 
son's claim. The Colony appealed home to Eng- 
land, but never prosecuted their suit to an issue. 
Mason died. The Colony kept possession un- 
der Abimeleck, their created King of Mohegin. 
About ten years ago, the heirs of Mason and Har- 
rison petitioned Government to decree that Dud- 
ley's verdict should be enforced ; but the Colo- 
nists found means to confound the claim of those 
competitors, without establishing their own. The 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 43 

truth is, neither the Colonists, nor Mason and 
Harrison, ever had any deed or title to those lands 
from Sassacus, or his heirs ; their deeds sprung 
from Uncas, already mentioned, a rebel subject 
of Sassacus, without any royal blood in his veins: 
— nevertheless, Mr. Neal, and others, who have 
written Histories of New-England, have taken es- 
pecial care to vindicate the justice of the settlers, 
who always, they say, conscientiously purchased 
their lands of Sachems. — I have given the Reader 
some idea of the purchases of the first colonizers 
in Connecticut, who, by their iniqutous art of 
makiniy Sachems, have entailed law-suits without 
end on their posterity ; for there is not one foot 
of land in the w hole province which is not cover- 
ed by ten deeds granted by ten different nominal 
Sachems to ten different persons : and, what ag- 
gravates the misfortune, the Courts of justice differ 
every session concerning . the true Sachem ; so 
that what the plaintiff recovers at a hearing be- 
fore one jury, he loses upon a re-hearing before 
another. 

Enough, surely, has been said to nullify the 
Colonists plea for having bought their lands 
of the Indians. As to any purchases made of the 
Saybrook settlers, those at Hartford totally de- 
clined them, till the farcical business respecting 
their charter came into agitation between the 
two junto's who procured it, of which I shall 
speak hereafter ; and so far were the people of 



44 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

New-Haven from buying any right of Fenwick or 
his associates, that they scorned the idea of claim- 
ing under them ; nay, it was even one of their 
principal views in the machinations wherein they 
were continually employed, to reduce the Say- 
brook Colony under the tyranny of their own Do- 
minion, as having no more title to the country 
than possession gave them. And upon any other 
supposition, it is impossible to account for the 
neglect of the colonizers of Hartford to secure 
their lands by such a purchase, seeming as they 
did to ransack heaven and earth for a title satis- 
factory even in their own eyes : they were con- 
scious no purchase of that kind could give them 
firmer f )oting than they had already. The truth 
therefore, undoubtedly, is, that Fenwick and Pe- 
ters had no legal right to sell the lands they oc- 
cupied, whatever might be their pretensions ; — 
nor, indeed, did they pretend to the power of 
selling more on their own account than was 
granted to them severally by their patrons the 
Lords Say and Brook, which cannot be supposed 
but an inconsiderable proportion of their Ameri- 
can property. No wonder, then, that we find 
another claim set up ; — a claim by conquest. 
This was particularly agreeable to the genius of 
the Hartford and New-Haven heroes ; but will, 
nevertheless, appear to make as little for their 
right as their honor, from the following consider- 
ations : — First, the invaders did not find Connec- 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 45 

ticut in a state of nature, but cultivated and set- 
tled by its Indian inhabitants, whose numbers 
were thousands, and who had three kings, viz. 
Connecticote, Uuinnipiog, and Sassacus, of whom 
Connecticote was Emperor, or King of Kings ; 
a dignity he and his ancestors had enjoyed, ac- 
cording to the Indian mode of reckoning, twenty 
sticks;* i.e. time immemorial. Secondly, they 
had no authority to invade, make war upon, and 
conquer^ the Indians, who were not at war with 
the King of England, nor his patentees, or their 
assigns. And, Thirdly, seizures, without legal 
commission, of however long standing, do not 
convey right or title by the English law. 

Feeling the weight of these considerations, the 
Colonists have been obliged to found their claim 
tp the country on their charter, which was obtain- 
ed in 1662, more than twenty-six years after they 
had taken possession. Here again, they are des- 
titute of support ; for the King, any more than 
his subjects, could not give to others the property 
of the Duke of Hamilton, unless his title had been 
proved to be forfeited by due course of law. 
But the charter created no title ; it merely con- 

*The Indian mode of counting: is from one to twenty. 
Every year they cut a notch in a stick ; and when the stick 
is full, or has twenty notches on it, they lay it up, and take 
another. When they have thus cut twenty sticks, they 
reckon no more ; — the number of twenty times twenty, 
with thenij becomes infinite, or incomprehensible. 



46 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

ferred on the people the authority of a legal cor- 
poration, without conveying any title to the lands. 
And, indeed, the prevarications of the Colonists 
themselves in regard to their charter-claim, suffi- 
ciently explode it. Whenever they find their 
property affected by any duty, custom. &c. im- 
posed by Parliament, and warranted by charter, 
they allege that they got the lands in possession 
by their own arm, without the aid of the King 
and Parliament of Great-Britain ; as Charles II. 
allowed in granting the charter, which conveyed 
no title, but was founded upon the title they pos- 
sessed before the date of it. At other times, 
when these selfish temporizers find it convenient, 
either for promoting their own, or preventing their 
neighbours encroachments, then they plead their 
charter as the one only thing needful to prove 
their right of land even to the South Sea itself! 

In short, and upon the whole. Possession, be- 
gun in Usurpation, is the best title the inhabit- 
ants of Connecticut ever had, or can set up, unless 
they can prove they hold the lands by an heav- 
enly grant, as the Israelites did those of Canaan. 
This heavenly title was, indeed, set up by Peters, 
Hooker, and Davenport, the three first ministers 
that settled Connecticut ; and is generally be- 
lieved through the Colony to this day. They 
thus syllogistically stated it; — The Heathen are 
driven out, and we have their lands in possession ; 
they were numerous, and we hut a few ; there^ 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 47 

fore the Lord hath done this great wark, to give 
his beloved rest. 

Thus much for the various pretensions of the 
occupiers of Connecticut in regaid to their right 
to the soil. I shall now give some account of 
the proceedings of the first settlers with re- 
spect to their religious and civil establishments; 
and of their political transactions, &.c. 

The party which settled at Saybrook under 
George Fenwick Esq. and the Rev. Thomas Pe- 
ters, in 1634, contented themselves, in framing 
the polity of their civil constitution, with the 
laws of England, and a few local regulations. 
As to their ecclesiastical institutions, they voted 
themselves to be a Church independent on Lord- 
bishops, and Mr. Peters to be their minister, 
whose episcopal ordination was deemed good, 
notwithstanding he had been silenced in England. 
They voted presbyters to be bishops, and pos- 
sessed of power to ordain ministers, when invited 
by a proper number of people formed into a so- 
ciety by a licence from the Governor. They vo- 
ted that a certain part of the Liturgy of the 
Church of England might be used ; the I^ord's 
Prayer the Apostles' Creed, together with one 
Chapter in the Bible, to be read at morning and 
evening service, or omitted, at the discretion of 
the Minister ; — that extempore prayers might be 
used at the pleasure of the Minister; but that 
the surplice should not be worn, nor should the 



48 HISTORY OP CONNECTICUT. 

sign of the cross at baptisms, the ceremony ol 
the ring at marriages, or saints-days, &c. be ob- 
served, as in the Church of England : — that every 
society licensed by the Governor, after having: a 
Minister ordained over it, be a complete Church, 
and invested with the keys of discipline, de\ en- 
ent only upon Christ, the head of his Church : 
— that the Minister should be the judge of the 
qualifications for church-membership^ and should 
censure disorderly walkers : — that the members 
in full communion should have power over the 
Minister, and might dismiss him from his parish 
by a majority of voices, and with the consent of 
the Governor; — that all children were the objects 
of Baptism, and that none should be debarred 
that sacrament for the sins of their parents, pro- 
vided an orderly liver would engage to bring 
them up in the ways of Christianity: — that all so- 
ber persons might partake of the Lord's Supper, 
provided the Minister, upon examination, should 
find them sufficiently acquainted with their duty : 
— that what is commonly called Conversion, is 
not absolutely necessary before receiving the 
Lord's Supper, because that sacrament is a con- 
verting ordinance ; — that all Gospel Ministers 
were upon an equality in office ; and that it was 
the business of every one to admonish a trans- 
gressor, privately in the first place, and next, if 
no attention was paid to his advice, before his 
Beacons ; then, if their admonition was disregard- 



HlSTOllY OF CONNECTICUT. 49 

=ed,ilie oflender should be presented to the Churchy 
(that is, the Minister, Deacons, and Communicants, 
united by the keys of discipline,) and upon his 
still continuing refractory, he should be censured 
and rejected by the majority of voters, without 
any appeal : — that Deacons should be chosen by 
the Minister and Communicants, upon a majority 
of voices, and ordained by the Minister, according 
to the holy practice of St. Paul : — that it w^as the 
duty of the Governor and civil Magistrates to pro- 
tect and nurture the Church, but not to govern 
it; because Christ's authority given to his Church 
was above principalities and all civil powers : — 
&,e. &c. 

The settlers at Hertford, having declared them- 
selves to be an independent Colony, and that 
their dominion extended from sea to sea, voted 
Haynes to be their Governor, and appointed six 
Counsellors to assist him in framing laws and re- 
gulating the state. The same spirit of indepen- 
dence dictated their church-discipline. They 
voted Mr. Hooker to be their Minister, and six of 
their church-members to ordain him. Mr. Hook- 
er accepted of their vote or call, renounced his 
episcopal ordination, and was ordained by the 
six lay church-members over tiie Churc!) of the 
independents in Hertford. Thus Mr. Hooker, 
who was born in Leicestershire, educated in Cam- 
bridge, ordained by a Bishop, silenced by a Bishop 

in 1630, in England, and re-ordained by six lay* 

5 



50 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

men in America, became what he wished to be, 
the head of the independents in the Dominion of 
Hertford, where he had the honor and pleasure of 
exercising, over all who differed from him in opin- 
ion, that violent spirit of persecution which he 
and his friends so clamorously decried as too in- 
tolerant to be endured in England. Some of the 
characteristic doctrines of this persecuting fana- 
tic were of the following purport : — That Christ's 
Church is not universal, but a particular, visible 
Church, formed by general consent and covenant: 
— that Christ has committed the power of binding 
and loosening to believers, without any distinction 
between clergy and laity: — that ruling and preach- 
ing elders are duly ordained to their office by the 
election and the imposition of the hands of the 
people : — that the tables and seals of the cove- 
nant, the offices and censures of ('hrist's Church, 
the administration of all his public worship and 
ordinances, are in the catua Jidelium, or combi- 
nation of godly, faithful men, met in one congre- 
gation : — that a diocesan, provincial or national 
assembly, is incompatable v.ith the nature of 
Christ's Church ; seeing all and every member of 
Christ's Church are to meet every Lord's-day in 
one place, for the administration of the holy ordi- 
nances of God : — that a multitude of free people 
may elect and ordain a king over them, although 
they were not, prior to that act, possessed of king- 
ly power ; for the people of Israel imposed their 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 51 

hands on the Levites, when they themselves were 
not Levites; — Numb. viii. 10: — that nature has 
given virtual power to a free people to set up any 
christian form of government, both in Church and 
State, which they see best for themselves in the 
land ; but Christ gave the power of the keys to 
his Church, i. e. to his believing people, and not 
to Peter or to Paul as ministers, but as professed 
believers, in conjunction with the rest of true be- 
lievers ; that the Church hath not absolute power 
to choose whom it will ; it hath ministerial power 
only to choose whom Christ hath chosen, i. e. 
such as he hath gifted and fitted for the work of 
the ministry: — that neither Popes, Bishops, nor 
Presbyters, are necessary to ordain Ministers of 
Jesus Christ ; because the power of the keys is 
given by Christ to his Church, i. e. the people in 
covenant with God : — that, as ordination is in 
the power of each Church, no Church hath power 
over another, but all stand in brotherly equality : 
— that it is unlawful for any Church of Christ to 
put out of its hand that power which Christ has 
siven to it, into the hands of other Churches : — 
that no one Church ought to send to Ministers of 
other Churches to ordain its Ministers, or to cen- 
sure its offenders : — that Baptism does not make 
any one a member of Christ's Church, because pa- 
pists and other heretics are baptised : therefore, 
to be a member of Christ's Church, is to own the 
covenant of that particular Church where God 



52 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

has placed such member : — that seven persoiis 
may form a church of Christ, but 15,000 cannot, 
because such a number cannot meet in one place, 
nor hear, nor partake, nor be edified together : — 
that no one can partake of the Lord's Supper, till 
he be converted and has manifested his faith and 
repentance before the Church : — &c. &c.* 

The laws made by the Governor and Council 
of Hertford are, in General, much of the same 
stamp with those of the New-Haven legislators,^ 
of some of which an abstract will be given here- 
after. 

The fanatics at New-Haven, in like manner 
with those of Hertford, voted themselves to be a 
Dominion independent, and chose Eaton for their 
Governor, and Davenport for their Minister. The 
Governor and a Committee had the power of ma- 
king laws for the State, and the Minister, assisted 
by Deacons and Elders, was to rule the Church. 
The following is a specimen of the tenets estab- 
lished by Davenport in the latter: — That Christ 
has conveyed all power to his people both in 
Church and State ; which power they are to ex- 
ercise until Christ shall return on earth, to reign 
1,000 years over his militant Saints: — that all 
other kings, besides Christ and his elected people, 
are pestilent usurpers, and enemies to God and 
Man : — that all Vicars, Rectors, Deans, Priests> 



Supplement, Note M. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 63 

and Bishops are of the Devil ; are wolves, petty 
Popes, and antichristian tyrants :— that Pastors, 
and Teachers of particular congregations are of 
Christ, and must be chosen by his people ; i. e. 
the elect and chosen from the foundation of the 
world ; or else their entrance and ministry are un- 
lawful :— that all things of human invention in the 
worship of God, such as are in the Mass-book and 
Common-prayer, are unsavory in the sight of 
God : — that ecclesiastical censures ought to be 
exercised by the members of particular Congre- 
gations among themselves : — that the people 
should not suffer this supreme power to be wrest- 
ed out of their hands, until Christ shall begin his 
reign : — that all good people ought to pray al- 
ways that God would raze the old Papal founda- 
tion of episcopal government, together with the 
filthy ceremonies of that antichristian Church : — 
that every particular who neglects this duty, may 
justly fear that curse pronounced against Meroz, 
— Judff . V. 23, Curse ye Meroz, because they came 
not to help the Lord against the mighty enemies 
of God and his Churcli -.—that every particular 
Cono-reiiation is an absolute Church ; the mem- 
bers of it are to be all Saints; those must enter 
into covenant among themselves, and without 
such covenant there can be no Church : — that it 
is an heinous sin to be present when prayers are 
read out of a book by a Vicar or Bishop : — that 
subjects promise obedience to obtain help from 

5* 



54 HISTOEY OF CONNECTICUT. 

the Magistrates, and are discharged from their 
promise when the Magistrates fail in their duty: 
— that, without liberty from the Prince or Magis- 
trate, the people may reform the Church and 
State, and must not wait for the Magistrates : — 
&c. &c. This Dominion, this tyrant of tyrants, 
adopted the Bible for its code of civil laws, till 
others should be made more suitable to its cir- 
cumstances. The provision was politic. The 
lawgivers soon discovered that tiie precepts in the 
Old and New Testaments were insufficient to sup- 
port them in their arbitrary and bloody undertak- 
ings : they, therefore, gave themselves up to their 
own inventions in making others, wherein, in 
some instances, they betrayed such an extreme 
degree of wanton cruelty and oppression, that 
even the rigid fanatics of Boston, and the mad 
zealots of Hertford, put to the blush, christened 
them the Blue Laws ; and the former held a day 
of thanksgiving, because God, in his good provi- 
dence, had stationed Eaton and Davenport so far 
from them.* 

The religious system established by Peters at 
Saybrook was well calculated to please the mo- 
derate Puritans and zealots of all denominations; 
but the fanatics of the Massachusetts-Bay, who 
hated every part of the Common-Prayer-book 
worse than the Council of Trent and the papal 



Supplement, Note N. 



HISTORY OP Connecticut. 55 

power exercised over heretics, were alarmed at 
the conduct of the half-reformed schismatics m 
that colon}'; and, thinking that their dear^baZewi 
might be endangered by such im|)ure worshippers, 
consented, in the year 1636, to give Mr. Hooker 
and his associates liberty to emigrate to Hertford, 
notwithstanding the preceding year they had 
refused such liberty, seeing then no reason for 
Hooker's seizing the territory of other people. 
But when the New-England Vine was supposed 
to be threatened by the Bible, Lord's Prayer, 
and Ten Commandments, the pious people of 
Massachusetts-Bay permitted Hooker, in 1635, to 
remove into and govern Connecticut by their au- 
thority, and to impede and break up the worship 
of the Peterites in Saybrook. Hooker was faith- 
ful to his trust, excepting that, when he got to 
Hertford, he rejected the authority of his employ- 
ers in the Massachusetts-Bay, set up a new do- 
minion, and persecuted the Feterites under his 
own banner, though he called it the banner of 
Jesus. But for his and Davenport's tyrannical 
conduct, the Colony in Saybrook would have lived 
in peace with the Indians, as they did till their 
artful and overbearing neighbors brought on 
a general war between them and the English, 
which ended with the death of Sassacus and the 
destruction of all his subjects. After that war, 
great dissention arose among the conquerors. 
Fenwick was sensible, of a calm disposition, and 



5G HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

very religious ; yet not entirely void of ambition- 
He claimed the government of all Connecticut, 
and insisted upon payment for such lands as were 
possessed by Hooker and Davenport, and their 
associates: this he said, was but common justice 
due to his constituents, the Lords Say and Brook. 
Hooker and Davenport, however, were not fond 
of his doctrine of justice, but made religion, li- 
berty, and power, the greater objects of their 
concern; wherein they were supported by the 
people of Massachusetts-Bay, whose spirits were 
xiongenial with their own. Hence no opportuni- 
ty was lost of prejudicing Saybrook ; and the 
troubles in the Mother-Country furnished their 
enemies with manv. One step they took, in par- 
ticular, operated much to its disadvantage. The 
Massachusetts' Colony, eager to act against 
Charles I. agreed with those of Hertford and 
New-Haven, New-Hampshire, and Rhode-Island, 
to send agents to I'lngland, assuring the House of 
Commons of their readiness to assist against the 
King and Bishops. The Saybrook settlers, 
though zealous against the Bishops, were not 
much inclined to rebellion against the King, and 
therefore took no part in this transaction. As the 
royal cause lost ground in England, the appre- 
hensions of this Colony increased ; and JFen- 
wick finding himself unsupported by the Lords 
Say and Brook, thought it prudent to dis- 
pose of his colonial property to Peters and his as- 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 57 

sociates, and return to England. Confusion be- 
ing established in England, moderation became 
an unpardonable sin in Saybrook, which both the 
neighboring colonies were ready to punish by as- 
suming the jurisdiction there : mutual jealousy 
alone prevented it. At length, during Crom- 
well's usurpation, the inhabitants fearing the ef- 
fects of his displeasure for not joining in the 
above-mentioned address to the Commons in Eng- 
land especially lest he should put them under the 
power of the furious Davenport, and at the 
same time foreseeing no prospect of the Restora- 
tion, judged it adviseable, by way of prefering 
the lesser to the greater evil, to form a sort of 
alliance and junction with the people of Hert- 
ford, where Hooker now lay numbered with the 
dead. The Colony was not only hereby enabled 
to maintain its ground, but flourished greatly ; 
and the Minister, Thomas Peters, established a 
school in Saybrook, which his children had the 
satisfaction to see become a College, denomina- 
ted Yale College, of which a particular account 
will be given in the course of this work. He was 
a churchman of the puritanic order, zealous^ 
learned, and of a mild disposition; and frequent- 
ly wrote to his brother Hugh at Salem,* to ex- 

* William, Thomas, and Hugh Peters, were hrothers, 
and born at Fowey, in Cornwall, in Old England. Their 
father was a merchant of great property ; and their mother 
was Elizabeth Treffry, Daughter of John Treifry, Esq. of 



58 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

ercise more moderation, lest " overmuch zeal 
should ruin him and the cause they were em- 
barked in." At his death, which did not happen 
till after the Restoration of Charles II., he be- 

a very ancient and opulent family in Fowey. William was 
educated at Leyden, Thomas at Oxford, and Hugh at Cam- 
bridge universities. About the years 1610 and 1 620, Thom- 
as and Hugh were clergymen in London, and Wilham was 
a private gentleman. About 1628, Thomas and Hugh, 
rendered obnoxious by their popularity and puritanism, 
were silenced by the Bishop of London. They then went 
to Holland, and remained there till 1633, when they return- 
ed to London. The three brothers sold their landed pro- 
perty, and went to New-England in 1G34. Hugh settled 
at Salem, and became too popular for Mather and Cotton. 
He was soon appointed one of the Trustees of the College 
at New-Cambridge. He built a grand house, and purchas- 
ed a large tract of land. The yard before his house he 
paved with flint-stones from England ; and, having dug a 
well, he paved that round with flint-stones also, for the ac- 
commodation of every inhabitant in want of water. It 
bears the name of Peters' Spring to this day. He married 
a second wife, by whom he had one daughter named Eliza- 
beth. The renown of this zealot increasing, he received an 
invitation to remove from Salem to Boston, and, complying 
with it, he there laid the foundation-stone of the great meet- 
ing-house, of which the Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper, one of 
the most learned of the literati in America, is the present 
minister. Mather and Cotton ill brooked being out-rivalled 
by Hugh; yet, finding him an orthodox fanatic, and more 
perfect than themselves, they seemingly bowed to his su- 
periority at the same time that they laid a snare for his de- 
struction. In J 64 1, those envious pastors conspired witbi 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 59 

queathed his library to the school above men- 
tioned. 

The religious institutions of Hooker at Hert- 
ford were not only binding on the Dutch, but 

the Court of Boston to convert their Bishop H ugh into a 
pohtician, and appoint him agent to Great Britain. The 
plot succeeded ; and Hugh assumed his agency under color 
of petitioning for some abatement of customs and excise ; 
but his real commission was to foment the civil discontents, 
jars, and wars, then prevailing between the King and Par- 
liament. Hugh did not see into the policy of Mather and 
Cotton ; and he had a strong inclination to chastise the 
Bishops and Court, who had turned him out of the Church 
for his fanatical conduct. On his arrival in London the 
Parliament took him into their service. The Earls of War- 
wick and Essex were also his patrons. In 1G44, the Par- 
liament gave him Archbishop Laud's library ; and soon af- 
ter made him head of the Archbishop's Court, and gave him 
his estate and palace at Lambeth:— all which Hugh kept 
till the Restoration, when he paid for his zeal, his puritan- 
ism, and rebellion, on a gibbet in Charing Cross. His 

daughter married a merchant in Newport, Rhode Island, 
and lived and died with an excellent character. Her father 
having met with so tragical an end, I omit to mention her 
husband's name, whose posterity live in good reputation. 

Governor Hutchinson reports that the widow of Hugh 

Peters was supported, till 1671, by a collection at Salem, of 
301. per annum. Were this report true, it would be much 
to the reputation of Salem for having once relieved the unfor- 
tunate. jMr. Hutchinson might have pointed out the cause 
of the unhappy widow's necessity; but he has left that part 
to me, and here it follows: — After Hugh's death, the select- 
man of Salem were afraid that the King [Charles II.] 



50 HIStOKY OF CONNECTJCLT. 

even extended to the great Connecticote hiitiselt^^ 
The Sachem did not like his new neighbors; he 
refused to give or sell any land to thern ; but told 
them, that, as they came to trade, and to spread 



would seize on his estate in Salem, as had been the case in 
regard to what the Parliament had given him in England. 
They therefore trumped up a debt, and seiztfi and sold the 
said ^state to the families of Lyndes and Curwin, who pos- 
sess it to the present time ; — and the selectmen of Salem 
allowed the widow 301. per annum for the wrong they had 
done her and her daughter. It is not likely that the widow 
was supported by any charitable collection ; for William 
Peters was a man of great property, and had a deed of the 
whole peninsula whereon Boston stands, which he pur- 
chased of Mr. Blaxton, who bought it of the Plymouth 
Co.; though Mr. Hutchinson says Blaxton's title arose 
merely from his sleeping on it the first of any Englishman.* 
This was well said by Mr. Hutchinson, who wanted to justify 
the people of Salem in seizing the land and expelling Mr. 
Blaxton from his settlement in 1630, because he said he 
liked Lords-Brethren less than Lords-Bishops. Moreover, 
Thomas Peters, at the same time, was living at Saybrook 



'^ The Rev. Mr. Blaxton had lived on Shawmut, or the pe- 
ninsula on which Boston is built, ahoye nine years before June, 
1630. when he was driven away from his possessions by the 
pious people of Salem, because he was not pleased witli the 
religious system of tJiose new comers. They were so generous 
as to vote a small lot to Mr. Blaxton, near Boston Neck, as a 
compensation for the whole peninsula, and for his banishment 
on pain of death not to return. Blaxton afterwards sold his 
i-ight to William Peters Esq. but who was kept out of posses- 
sion of it by the supreme power of Ibe people. 



History of Connecticut. GJl 

ike Christian religion among his subjects, which 
Mr. Hooker defined to consist only in peace, love 
and justice, he had no objection to their building 
wigwams, planting corn, and hunting on his lands. 

and was not poor. Those two gentlemen were able and 
willing to support the widow of an unfortunate brother, 
whom they loved very tenderly. They took great care of 
his daughter, and left her handsome legacies. From these 
considerations, I am induced to beheve, that the widow of 
Hugh Peters never subsisted on any contributions, except 
what she received from her brotijers, Wiliiam and Thomas 
Peters. Mr. Hutchinson makes a curious remark, viz. If 
Hugh Peters had returned to his parish, he would not have 
.-uffered as he did. He might have said with greater pro- 
priety, that, if Hugh Peters had not been a fanatic and a 
rebel more zealous than wise, he never would have left his 
parish for the agency of the people of New-England, who 
never paid liim the stipulated allowance for his support in 
England, though he gave them thanksgiving days instead 
of fastmg, for the space of twenty years, and procured, in 
1649, from Oliver Cromwell, a charter for the Company tor 
propagating the Gospel in New -England, which, by contri- 
butions raised in England, have tupported all the missiona- 
ries among the Indians to the present time ; yet Mr. Hutch- 
inson and Neal write largely about the vast expense the 
Massachusetts-Bay have been at in spreading the Gospel 
among the poor savages! 

I cannot forbear here to notice an abuse of tJiis charter. 
Notwithstanding it confines the views of the Company to 
New England, yet they, and their Committee of Correspon- 
dence in Boston, have of late years vouchsafed to send most 
of their Missionaries out of New-England, among the Six- 
Nations, and the unsanctified episcopahans in the Southern 

6 



62 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

The wisdom and steady temper of this great Sa- 
chem, and the vast number of rJubjects at his com- 
mand, made Haynes and H^'oker cautious in their 
conduct. Many people of Massachusetts-Bay, 
hearing that Hooker had made good terms with 
the Sachem, left their persecutors, and fled to 
the fertile banks of Connecticut, that they might 
help Hooker spread the Gospel among the poor 
benighted Heathen in the wilderness. The Rev. 
Mr. Huet, with his disciples, fixed at Windsor, 

Colonies, where was a competent number of church clergy- 
men. Whenever this work of supererogation has met with 
its deserved animadversion, their answer has been, that, 
though Cromwell limited them to New England, yet Christ 
had extended their bounds from sea to sea ! With what 
little reason do they complain of King William's chaiter to 
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts? This Society have sent Missionaries to New-Eng- 
land, where they have an undoubted right to send them, to 
supply episcopal churches already established there; where- 
as the other Society send Missionaries beyond the limits of 
their charter, to alienate the minds of the episcopal Indians 
of the Six Nations, against the episcopal Missionaries an^l 
the Government o'' the Mother Country. And they have 
been loo successful ; especially since the Rev. Dr. Eleazer 
Wheelock, Dr. Whi taker, and the Rev. Mr. Sampson Oc- 
com, by the Charity of England, have joined in the same 
work. To the General Assembly, and the ConsocititHn of 
Connecticut, Dr. Wheelock and his associates were m ich 
beholden for their success in converting the poor benigi'ted 
savages in the howling wilderness. Their merits are p-rcat, 
and their reward is pending. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 63 

eight miles north of Hertford ; and the Rev. Mr. 
Smith, at Wethersfield, four miles south of it. 
In the space of eighteen months, the Dominion 
of Hertford contained seven-hundred white peo- 
ple, and seven independent churches. Having 
converted over to the Christian faith some few 
Indians, among whom was Joshua, an ambitious 
captain under the great Sachem Connecticote, 
Hooker, Huet, Smith, and others, hereby found 
means to spread the Gospel into every Indian 
town, and, to the eternal infamy of christian poli- 
cy, those renowned, pious fathers of this new co- 
lony, with the Gospel, spread the small pcx. 
This distemper raged in every corner : it swept 
away the great Sachem Connecticote, and laid 
waste his ancient kingdom. Hereupon, Haynes 
and his assembly proclaimed Joshua, Sachem f 
and such as did not acknowledge his sachemic 
power, were compelled to suffer death, or fly the 
Dominion. Thus in three years time, by the Gos- 
pel and fanatic policy, was dostroj^ed Connecti- 
cote, the greatest king in North jVmerica. This 
remarkable event was considered as the work of 
the Lord : and the savage nations were told that 
the like calamities would befal them, unless they 
embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Joshua 
was grateful to the English who had made him 
Sachem, and gave them deeds of those lands 
which had constantly been refused by Connecti- 
-cote. But Joshua had as Utile honor as virtue 



04 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

and loyalty : he supported himself many years 
by signing deeds, and gulled the English through 
their own imprudence in neglecting to make a 
law for recording them. These colonists having 
driven out the Heathen, and got possession of a 
land which flowed with milk and honey, expelled 
the Dutch as a dangerous set of heretics ; — and 
Hooker, after doing so much for his new Domin- 
ion, expected the homage from every Church, 
which is due only to a Bishop. This homagC; 
however, he could not obtain, because each Mi- 
nister had pretensions not much inferior to his. 
Disputes arose about Doctrine and Discipline. 
Hooker taught that there were forty-two kinds of 
Grace, though all of little value, except that of 
" saving Grace." As to Discipline, he held, that, 
as he had received his ministerial ordination from 
the Laity who were members in full communion, 
he considered those actual communicants as 
Christ's Churxh here on earth, and consequently 
as holding the keys of discipline ; and he main- 
tained, that the Minister had but a single voice, 
and was a subject of the Church. Other Minis- 
ters, who had received episcopal ordination, but 
had been silenced by their Bishops, judged them- 
selves, notwithstanding, to be Ministers of Christ ; 
and alleged that the installation of a Minister by 
prayer and imposition of hands of lay communi- 
cants, was no ordination, but a ceremony only of 
putting a Minister in possession of his Church. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 



65 



from which he might be dismissed by a majority 
of voters of the members in full communion. 
And those Ministers taught for doctrine, that man- 
kind were saved by Grace, and that the Gospel 
told us of but one Grace as necessary to salva- 
tion ; for that he who believes that Jesue is the Son 
of God, is born of God, and enjoys the Grace of 
God which brings Salvation. The majority of 
the people of course were on the side of Mr. 
Hooker, as his plan established their power over 
the Minister; and they soon determined by vote, 
according to their code of laws, in his favor. But 
the Ministers and minority were not convinced by 
this vote, and, to avoid an excommunicJition, form- 
ed themselves into separate bodies ; nevertheless, 
they soon felt the thundering anathemas of Hook- 
er, and the heated vengeance of the civil power. 
However, persecution, by her certain conse- 
quence, fixed the separatists in their schism, 
which continues to the present time. Hooker 
reigned twelve years high priest over Hertford ; 
and then died above sixty years of age, to the 
great joy of the separatists, but, in point of popu- 
lousness, to the disadvantage of the colony of 
Saybrook, which was the little Zoar for Hooker's 
heretics. 

Exact in tything mint and anise, the furies of 
New-Haven for once affected the weightier mat- 
ters of justice. They had no title to the land : 

they applied to Qumnipiog, the Sachem, for a 

6* 



66 HISTORY OP CONNECTICUT. 

deed or grant of it. The Sachem refused to give 
the lands of his ancestors to strangers. The 
settlers had teeming inventions, and immediately 
voted themselves to be the Children of God, and 
that the wilderness in the utmost parts of the 
earth was given to them. This vote became a 
law forever after. It is true, Davenport endea- 
vored to christianize Quinnipiog, but in vain : 
however, he converted Sunksquaw, one of his 
subjects, by presents and great promises; and 
then Sunksquaw betrayed his master, and the 
settlers killed him. This assassination of Quin- 
nipiog brought on a war between the English and 
Indians, which never ended by treaty of peace. 
The Indians, having only bows and arrows, were 
driven back into the woods ; whilst the English 
with their swords and guns, kept possession of 
the country. But, conscious of their want of 
title to it, they voted Sunksquaw to be Sachem, 
and that whoever disputed his authority should 
suffer death. Sunksquaw, in return, assigned to 
the English those lands of which they had made 
him Sachem. Lo ! here is all the title the set- 
tlers of the Dominion of New-Haven, ever obtain- 
ed. The cruel and bloody persecutions under 
Eaton and Davenport in New-Haven soon gave 
rise to several little towns upon the sea-coast. 
Emigrants from England arrived every year to 
settle in this Dominion; but few remained in 
New-Haven, on account of Eaton, Davenport, 
the Deacons and Elders, who possessed all pow- 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.- 67 

er there, and were determined to keep it. The 
nevv-c mf.^rs, therefore, under pretence of spread- 
ing Christ's kingdom and shunning persecution, 
joined with the settlers at Stamford, Guilford, 
and Stratford, where, however, persecution do- 
mineered with as much fury as at New-Haven ; 
for each town judged itself to be an independent 
Dominion; though for fear of the Dutch and the 
Indians, they formed a political union, and swore 
to bear true allegiance to the capital New-Ha- 
ven, whose authority was supreme. As all offi- 
cers in every town were annually elected by the 
freemen, and as there were many candidates, 
some of whom must be unsuccessful, there was 
always room for complaints. The complainants 
formed schisms in the Church, which brought on 
persecution ; and persecution drove the minority 
to settle new towns, in order to enjoy Liberty, 
Peace, and Power to persecute such as differed 
from them. Thus lived those ambitious people, 
under far worse persecutions from one another than 
they ever experienced or complained of in Old 
England ; all which they endured with some de- 
gree of patience, the persecuted one year living 
in hopes that the next would enable them to re- 
taliate on their persecutors. 

The laws made by this independent Dominion, 
and denominated Blue-Laws by the neighboring 
Colonies, were never suffered to be printed ; but 
the following sketch of some of them will give a 



68 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

tolerable idea of the spirit which pervades the 
whole. 

"The Governor and Magistnates convened in 
general Assembly, are the supreme power under 
God of this independent Dominion. 

" From the determination of the Assembly no 
appeal shall be made. 

" The Governor is amenable to the voice of 
the people. 

" The Governor shall have only a single vote 
in determining any question ; except a casting 
vote, when the Assembly may be equally divided. 

" The Assembly of the People shall not be dis- 
missed by the Governor, but shall dismiss itself. 

"Conspiracy against this Dominion shall be 
punished wnth death. 

" Whoever says there is power and jurisdiction 
above and over this Dominion, shall sutfer death 
and loss of property. 

" Whoever attempts to change or overturn this 
Dominion shall suffer death. 

"The judges shall determine controversies 
without a jury. 

" No one shall be a freeman, or give a vote, 
unlf^ss he be converted, and a member in full 
communion of one of the Churches allowed in 
this Dominion. 

"No man shall hold any office, who is not 
sound in the faith, and faithful to this Dominion;- 
and whoever gives a vole to such a person, shall 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 69 

pay a fine of il.; for a second oiTence, he shall 
be flisfranchised. 

"Each freeman sljall swear by the blessed 
God to bear true allegiance to this Dominion, 
and that Jesus is- the only King. ^ 

"No quaker or dissenter from thn established 
worship of this Dominion shall be allowed to 
give a vote for the election of Magistrates, or any 
officer. 

"No food or lodging shall be aiforded to a 
Quaker, Adamite, or other Heretic. 

"If any person turns Quaker, he shall be 
banished, and not suffered to return but upon 
pain of death. 

" No Priest shall abide in this Dominion : he 
shall be banished, and suffer death on his return. 
Priests may be seized by any one without a war- 
rant. 

" No one to cross a river, but with an authori- 
ized ferryman. 

"No one shall run on the Sabbath day, or walk 
in his garden or elsewhere, except reverently to 
and from meeting. 

" No one shall travel, cook victuals, make 
beds, sweep house, cut hair, or shave, on the Sab- 
bath day. 

"No woman shall kiss her child on the Sab- 
bath or fasting-day. 

"The Sabbath shall begin at sunset on Satur- 
day. 



70 HISTORY dr CONNECTICUT. 

" To pick an ear of corn growing in a neigh- 
bor's garden, shall be deemed theft. 

" A person accused of trespass in the night 
shall be judged guilty, unless he clear himself by 
his oath. 

" When it appears that an accused has con- 
federates, and he refuses to discover them, he 
may be racked. 

" No one shall buy or sell lands without per- 
mission of the selectmen. 

" A drunkard shall have a master appointed by 
the selectmen, who are to debar him from the li- 
berty of buying and selHng. 

" Whoever puhlisht . a lie to the prejudice of 
his neighbor, shall sit in the stocks, or be whip- 
ped fifteen stri pes. 

" No Minister shall keep a school. 

" Every rateable person, who refuses to pay his 
proportion to the support of the Minister of the 
town or parish shall be fined by the Court 21. and 
41. every quarter, until he or she pay the rate to 
the Minister. 

" Men-stealers shall suffer death. 

" Whoever wears clothes trimmed with gold, 
silver, or bone lace, above two shillings by the 
yard, shall be presented by the grand jurors, and 
the selectmen shall tax the offender at 300J. 
estate. 

" A debtor in prison, swearing he has no estate^ 
.shall be let out, and sold, to make satisfaction. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICtfT. 7t 

" Whoever sets a fire in the woods, and it burns 
a house, shall suffer death ; and persons suspected 
of this crime shall be imprisoned, without benefit 
of bail. 

" Whoever brings cards or dice into this domin- 
ion shall pay a fine of 5/. 

" No one shall read Common-Prayer, keep 
Christmas or Saints-days, make minced pies, 
dance, play cards, or play on any instrument of 
music, except the drum, trumpet, and jews-harp.* 

" No gospel Minister shall join people in mar- 
riage ; the magistrates only shall join in marriage, 
as they may do it with less scandal to Christ's 
Church. f 
''When parents refuse their children convenient 

marriages, the Magistrates shall determine the 
point. 

" The selectmen, on finding children ignorant, 
•may take them away from their parents, and put 
them into better hands, at the expense of their 
parents, 

" Fornication shall be punished by compelling 
marriage, or as the Court may think proper. 

"Adultery shall be punished with death. 

" A man that strikes his wife shall pay a fine of 



* Supplement, Note O. 

f The savage Pawawwers, or Priests, never concern 
themselves with marriages, but leave them to the Paniesh 
or Magistrates. 



72 HISTORY OF CONNECTICLT. 

10/. ; a woman that strikes her husband shall be 
punish>ed as the Court directs. 

" A wife shall be deemed good evidence against 
her husband. 

" No man shall court a maid in person, or by 
letter, without first obtaining consent of her pa- 
rentfj: 5/. penalty for the first oflence ; iO/. for 
the second; and, for the third, imprisonment du- 
ring the pleasure of the Court. 

"Married persons must live together, or be im- 
prisoned. 

" Every male shall have his hair cut round ac- 
cording to a cap. ''^ 

Of such sort were the laws made by the people 
of New-Haven, previous to their incorporation 
with Saybrook and Hertford colonies by the char- 
ter. They consist of a vast multitude, and were 
properly termed the Blue Laws; i. e. Bloody 
Laws; for they were all sanctified v.ith e.xcomu- 
nication, confiscation, fines, banshments whip- 
pings, cutting oif the ears, burning the tongue, 
and death. Europe at this day night well say 
the Religion of the first settlers at New-Haven 
was fanaticism turned mad ; and did not similar 
laws still prevail over New- England as the com- 
mon law of the country, I would have It ft t!i in in 
silence along with Dr Mather's Fatres amscriptif 



*The Levitical law forbids cutting- thf liair, or roandin<v 
the bead. 



HISTORY OF COWECTiCLT. 73 

and the renowned Saints of Mr. Neal, to sleep to 
the end of time. No one, but a partial and blind 
bigot, can pretend to say the projectors of them 
were men of Grace, Justice, and Liberty, when 
nothing but murders, plunders, and persecutions^ 
mark their steps. The best apology that can be 
made for them is, (1 write in reference to those 
times,) that human nature is everywhere the same ; 
and that the mitred Lord and canting Puritan are 
equally dangerous, or that both agree in the un- 
christian doctrine of persecution, and contend 
only which shall put it in practice. Mr. Neal 
says, many call the first Colonizers in New-Eng- 
land weak men for separating from the Church of 
England, and suffering persecutions, rather than 
comply with indifferent ceremonies ; and after as- 
serting that they were men of great learning and 
goodness, be appeals to the world to judge, 
which were weak, the Bishops or the Puritans ? 
My answer is, that those Puritans were weak men 
in Old England, and strong in New-England, 
where they out-pop'd the Popu, out-king'd the 
King, and out-bishop'd tlie Bishops. Their mur- 
ders and persecutions prove their strength lay in 
weakness, and their religion in ambition, v^^eaith, 
and dominion. 

Notwithstanding the perpetual jealousy and 
discordance between the tliree colonies of Con- 
necticut, (Saybrook claiming the whole under tiie 
Lords Say and Brook, Hertford under Jehovah 



74 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

and Conquest, and New-Haven under King Jesus 
and Conquest,) they judged it necessary, for their 
better security against the Dutch and Indians, to 
strengthen each other's hands by forming a gene- 
ral confederacy with the Colonies of New Ply- 
mouth and the Massachusetts-Bay. A measure 
of this kind, which they formally entered into in 
1643, proved of the most salutary consequence, 
in a war which many years after l)roke out be- 
tween them and Philip, sachem of the Pokanoket 
Indians, and which, for some time, imminently 
endaniijered the Colonies, but at length termina- 
ted in the destruction of that noted warrior and 
his followers. 

The death of Cromwell in 1658 struck an awe 
throughout all New England, Hertford and New- 
Haven appointed their days of fasting and prayer. 
Davenport prayed " the Lord to take the New- 
England Vine under his immediate care, as he 
had removed by death the great Protector of the 
proiestnnf liberty:" nevertlieless he lived to see 
the time when Charles II. obtained the possession 
of hi'^ Father's crown and kingdom, in spite of 
all his prayers. However, in the midst of sor- 
rows, they were comforted by the presence of 
many regicides and refugees, who fled from Eng- 
land not so much for religion as for liberty ; 
among whom were Whaley, Goffe, and Dixwell,^ 



* Dixv:ell died and lies buried in New-Haven. His grave 
is visited bv the sober dissprue)-},- with great reverence and 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 75 

three of the judges and murderers of Charles I. 
Davenport and Leet the then Governor received 
them as angels from Heaven, and blessed God 
that they had escaped out of the hands of "Herod 
the son of Barabbas.*" 

New-Haven Dominion being thus suddenly fill- 
ed with inhabitants, saw itself enabled to support 
its independence, and as usual despised Hertford 
and Saybrook, and withal paid no attention to the 
King and Parliament of England. The people of 
Massachusetts, who were ever forward in pro- 
moting their own consequence, observing the 
temper and conduct of those of New-Haven, con- 
ceived an idea at once of exalting an individual 
of their own province, and of attaching Hertford 
and Saybrook to their interest forever. They 
sent Mr. John Winthrop privately to Hertford, to 
promote a petition to Charles H. for a charter, as 
a security against the ambition of New-Haven. 
The Bostonians boasted of having had the honor 
of settling Hertford, which they therefore profess- 
ed to consider in the light of a near and dear con- 
nection. The proposal was accepted by the few 
persons to whom it was communicated, but, in 
framing their petition, they found themselves de- 



veneration ; nay, even held sacred as the tomb of Mecca. 
Here are buried also the children of Col. Jones, and many 
other rebels. 

* Supplement, Note P. 



76 HISTORY OF CONNECTICLT. 

flcient in their title to the lands. This obliged 
them to have recourse to a Junto at Saybrook, 
who claimed a title under Lords Say and Brook. 
A few purchases or rather exchanges, of land now 
took place between the Junto's ; after which the 
petition was drawn up, containing an artful de- 
scription of the lands claimed, "part of which 
they said they had purchased, and part they had 
conquered." They then as privately appointed 
Mr. Winthrop their agent to negotiate the busi- 
ness in England, which he very willingly under- 
took. On his arrival here, he applied to the 
agents of Massachusetts-Bay, and with their as- 
sistance procured from the incaution of Charles 
II. as ample a charter as was ever given to a pa- 
latinate state ; it covered not only Saybrook, 
Hertford, and New-Haven, but half of New-York, 
New-Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and a tract of 
land near 100 miles wide, and extending west- 
ward to the South sea, 1,400 miles from Narra- 
ganset bay. This charter, which was obtained 
in 1662, well pleased the people of Hertford, be- 
cause it coincided with their former vote, viz. 
" that their Dominion extended from sea to sea."* 
New-Haven dominion too late discovered the in- 
trigues of her artful neighbors ; and, after two 
years opposition, submitted to the charter purely 
oqt of fear lest some of her ministers and magis- 

'■^- Supplement, Note Q. 



HrSTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 77 



trates should suffer ignominious deaths for aiding 
in the murder of their King.* 

To the great joy of the people of Boston and 
Saybrook, Mr. Winthrop was appointed by the 
charter, Governor of all Connecticut. Their joy, 
however, sprung from different motives: Say- 
brook hoped for effectual protection from the in- 
suits of Hertford and the persecutions of New- 
Haven ; and Boston expected to govern the Go- 
vernor. 

Mr. Winthrop settled at New-London, in the 
kingdom of Sassacus, or colony of Saybrook, 
where he purchased lands of the claimants under 
Lords Say and Brook. Wisdom and moderation 
guided Mr. Winthrop. He was annually elected 
Governor till his death, which happened in 1676. 

Whether it were owing to the discovery of any 
defect in the title of the people of Connecticut 
to the soil, or of any undue arts practised in ob- 
taining their charter, or whether it must be con- 
sidered as an instance of Charles' fickle or arbi- 
trary disposition, that Monarch, in the short space 
of two years after granting that charter, com- 
prised half Connecticut in another grant to his 
brother the Duke of York of the territory between 
the Rivers Connecticut and Delaware, called by 
the Dutch New-Netherlands. This step excUed 
much discontent in Connecticut, especially when 



* Supplement, Notes R and S, 



78 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

an actual defalcation of its territory was discov- 
ered to be in agitation, after Colonel Nichols had 
succeeded in an enterprise he was sent upon 
against the Dutch at New-York. Commissioners 
were sent thither from Connecticut, the latter 
end of 1664, to defend the interests of the Colo- 
ny; but, notwithstanding all the opposition they 
could make, they were constrained to yield up 
the whole of Long Island, and a strip of land on 
the east side of Hudson's river. This dismember- 
ment is not easily to be justified : but, probably, 
finding it necessary to the performance of a pro- 
mise he had made the Dutch of the enjoyment of 
their possessions, Nichols might think himself at 
liberty of insisting upon it, furnished as he was 
with almost regal powers as the Duke of York's. 
deputy. In that capacity, he assumed the gov- 
ernment of the conquered territory, but does not 
appear to have intermeddled further with that of 
Connecticut. 

With Colonel Nichols were associated three 
other gentlemen, in a commission, empowering 
them to inquire into the state of the New-Eng- 
land provinces, to hear and redress complaints, 
settle differences, and check abuses of power: 
but the ill humor and obstinacy of those of Con- 
necticut and Massachusetts Bay, in a great mea- 
sure frustrated their endeavors. 

By authority of the charter, the freemen choose 
annually, in May, a Governor, a Deputy-Gover- 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT, 7^ 

nor, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and twelve Assis- 
tants, and, twice a year, two Representatives from 
each town. These being met, constitute the Ge- 
neral Assembly, which has power to make laws, 
provided they are not repugnant to the laws of 
England, and enforce them without the consent 
of the King. 

The General Assembly meets in May and Oc- 
tober without summoning. By it the colony has 
been divided into six counties, viz. Hertford, New- 
Haven, Nev/-London, Fairfield, Windham, and 
Litchfield; and these subdivided into 73 town- 
ships, and 300 parishes. 

Each town has two or more justices of peace, 
who hear and determine, without a jury, all causes 
under ^2.1. 

Each county has five judges, who try by a jury 
all causes above 21. 

Five judges preside over the superior court of 
the province, who hold two sessions in each coun- 
ty every year. To this court are brought appeals 
from the county courts when the verdict exceeds 
iO/., appeals from the courts of probate, writs of 
error, petitions for divorce, &c. 

The General Assembly is a court of chancery, 
where the error or rigor of the judgments of the 
superior court are corrected. 

The General Assembly, and not the Governor, 
has the power of life and death. 

The courts of probate are managed by a jus- 



80 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

lice of peace, appointed by the General Assem- 
bly. 

Each county has its Sheriff, and each town its 
constables. 

By charter the Governor is Captain-general of 
the militia. Fourteen Colonels, fourteen Lieu- 
tenant-colonels, and fourteen Majors, are appoint- 
ed by the General Assembly. The Captains and 
Subalterns are elected by the people, and com- 
missioned by the Governor. 

The ecclesiastical courts in Connecticut are, 
1. The Minister and his Communicants : 2. The 
Association, which is composed of every minister 
and deacon in the county : 3. The Consociation, 
which consists of four ministers and their deacons, 
chosen from each Association ; and always meets 
in May, at Hertford, with the General Assembly. 
An appeal from the Consociation will lie before 
the General Assembly ; but the clergy have al- 
ways been against it, though with less success 
than they wislied. The General Assembly de- 
clared " Sober Dissenters" to be the established 
religion of the province. 

The laws of the colony enacted by the autho- 
rity of the charter, are decent in comparison with 
the Blue Laws. They make one thin volume m 
folio. Yet exceptions may justly be made to 
many of them — equal liberty is not given to all 
parties — taxes are unfairly laid — the poor are op- 
pressed. One law is intolerable, viz. When a 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. &t 

trespass is committed in the night, the injured 
person may recover damages of any one he shall 
think proper to accuse, unless the accused can 
prove an alibi, or will clear himself by an oath ; 
which oath, nevertheless, it is at the option of the 
justice, either to administer or refuse. Q,ueen 
Ann repealed the cruel laws respecting Quakers, 
Ranters, and Adamites ; but the General Assem- 
bly, notwithstanding, continued the same in their 
lau^-book, maintaining that a law made in Con- 
necticut could not be repealed by any authority 
but their own. It is a ruled case with them, that 
no law or statute of England be in force in Con- 
necticut, till formally passed by the General As- 
sembly, and recorded by the Secretary.* Above 
thirty years ago, a negro castrated his master's 
son, and was brought to trial for it before the sur 
perior court at Hertford. The Court could find 
no law to punish the negro. The lawyers quoted 
the English statute against maiming ; the Court 
were of opinion that statute did not reach this 
colony, because it had not been passed in the Ge- 
neral Assembly ; and therefore were about to re- 
mand the negro to prison till the General Assem- 
bly should meet. But an ex-post facto law was 
objected to as an infringement on civil liberty. 
At length, however, the Court were released from 
their difficulty, by having recourse to the vote of 



giapplement, Note T, 



S2 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

the first settlers at New-Haven, viz. That the Bi- 
ble should be their law, till they could make oth- 
ers more suitable to their circumstances. The 
Court were of opinion that vote was in full force, 
as it had not been revoked; and thereupon tried 
the negro upon the Jewish law,. viz. eye for eye, 
and tooth for tooth. He suffered accordingly. 

The idea fostered by the colony of indepen- 
dence on (ireat Britain, was not, as might be ima- 
gined, destroyed by the royal charter, but, on the 
contrary, was renewed and invigorated by it. In- 
deed, the charter is as much in favor of Connecti- 
cut, and unfavorable to England, a» if it had 
been drawn up in Boston or New-Haven. Had 
it been granted jointly by the King, Lords, and 
Commons, and not by the King solus, no one 
could dispute the independence of Connecticut 
on England, any more than they could that of 
Holland on Spain. The people at large did not 
discriminate between an act of the King solus, 
and an act of the King, Lords, and Commons, 
conjointly ; and, to prevent any one from shewing 
the difference, the General Assembly made a law, 
that " whoever should attempt to destroy the con- 
stitution of this colony as by charter established, 
should suffer death." The power of a British 
King was held up by them much higher than the 
constitution allowed. The King had authority, 
they said, to form palatinate states without con- 
sent of Parliament. Accustomed to doctrines of 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. S3 

this tendency, the multitude concluded the Gene- 
ral Assembly of Connecticut to be equal to the 
British Parliament. 

Notions of this kind did not prevail in Connecti- 
cut alone; Massachusetts-Bay still more^ abound- 
ed with them, and Rhode Island was not unin- 
fected. What was the consequence? Complaints 
against those governments poured into the British 
court. A reformation, tlierefore, became indis- 
pensable in New-England, and was begun by a 
disfranchisement of the Massachusetts province. 
The death of Charles II. put a temporary stop to 
proceedings against the other colonies ; but James 
II. soon found it expedient to remove them. In 
July, 1685, the following instances of mal-admin- 
istration were formally exhibited against the Go- 
vernor and Company of Connecticut, viz. "They 
have made laws contrary to the laws of England : 
— they impose fines upon the inhabitants, and con- 
vert them to their own use : — they enforce an 
oath of fidelity upon the inhabitants without ad- 
ministering the oath of supremacy and allegiance, 
as in their charter is directed : — they deny to 
the inhabitants the exercise of the religion of the 
church of England, arbitrarily fining those who 
refuse to come to their congregational assemblies : 
— his majesty's subjects inhabiting there, cannot 
obtain justice in the courts of that colony : — they 
discourage and exclude from the government all 
gentlemen of known loyalty, and keep it in the 



84 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

hands of the independent party in the colony.'' 
(Aew-Eng. Ent. vol. ii. p. 241.) In conse- 
t]uence of this impeachment, James II ordered a 
i^uo ffarranto to be issued against the charter of 
Connecticut. The people perceived that the 
King was in earnest ; and their alarm manifested 
itself in humble solicitations for favor; but, it 
being thought adviseable, on several accounts, 
particularly the extensive progress the French were 
making in Canada, to appoint one general Go- 
vernor over New-England, the submissive appli- 
cations of the Connecticut colonists could no fur- 
ther be regarded than in allowing them their 
choice, whether to be annexevi to New-York, or 
to Massachusetts. They preferred the latter ; 
and, accordingly, Sir Edmund Aisdr s hat ng 
been appointed Captain-general over all New- 
Enirland, the charter oi^ Connecticut was surren- 
dered to him. It is very remarkable that Messrs. 
Neal, Hutchinson, and otjjer historians of New- 
Enjiland, have artfully passed over in silence this 
transaction of the surrender of Connecticut char- 
ter to Sir Edmund Andros, the General Governor 
over New-EiUgland. T'ley have represented the 
magistrates of t.'onnecticut as not having resigned 
their charter, but by an erroneous construction 
i)ut on their humble su].>plication to James II. by 
the Court of London ; whereas the fact is, they 
resigned it, in propria forma, into the hands of 
Sir Edmund Andros, at Hertford^ in October, 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 85 

1687, and were annexed to the Massachusetts-Bay 
colony, in preference to New- York, according to 
royal promise and their own petition.* But the 
very night of the surrender of it, Samuel Wads^ 
worth, of Hertford, with the assistance of a mob, 
violently broke into the apartments of Sir Ed- 
mund, regained, carried off, and hid the charter 
in the hollow of an elm ; and, in 1689, news ar- 
riving of an insurrection and overthrow of Andros 
at Boston, Robert Treat, who had been elected in 
1687, was declared by the mob still to be Gover- 
nor of Connecticut. He daringly summoned his 
old Assembly, who, being convened, voted the 
charter to be valid in law, and that it could not 
be vacated by any power, without the consent of 
the General Assembly. f They then voted, that 
Samuel Wadsworth should bring forth the char- 
ter; which he did in a solemn procession, attend- 
ed by the High-sheriff, and delivered it to the 
Governor. The General Assembly voted their 
thanks to Wadsworth, and twenty shillings as a 
reward for stealing and hiding their charter in the 
elm. Thus Connecticut started from a depen- 
dent county into an independent province, in de- 
fiance of the authority that had lately been paid 
such humble submission. None should be sur- 
prised to find the people shewing more deference 
to Abimeleck King of Mohegin, than to George 



* Supplement, Note U. f Supplement, Note V. 
8 



86 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

King of England ; since a vote of men, whose Ic* 
gislative, and even corporate capacity had been 
annihilated, has prevailed, for more than eighty 
years, over a just exertion of royal prerogative.* 
Nevertheless, this unconstitutional Assembly, 
vt^hose authority under an assumed charter has 
been tacitly acknow^ledged by the British Parlia- 
ment, have not at all times been unchecked by 
the Corporation of Yale College. That College, 
by a charter received from this self-erected Go- 
vernment, was enabled to give Bachelor's and 
Master's degrees ; but the Corporation have pre- 
sumed to gi\e Doctor's degrees. When the Ge 
neral Assembly accused them of usurping a pri- 
vilege not conferred by their charter, they retort- 
ed, that " to usurp upon a charter, was not so bad 
as to usurp a vacated charter." The General 
Assembly were obliged to be content with this 
answer, as it contained much truth, and came 
from the clergy, whose ambition and power are 
not to be trifled with. 

Whatever might be the reason of the English 
Government's winking at the contempt shewn to 
their authority by the people of Connecticut, it 
certainly added to their ingratitude and bias to 
Usurpation. Having been in possession of that 
country one hundred and forty years, the General 
Assembly, though unsupported either by law or 



* Supplement;, Note W 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 87 

justice, resolved to take up and settle their lands 
west not only of Hudson but Susquehanna river,and 
extending to the South-Sea. In pursuance of this 
resolution, they with modesty passed over New- 
York and the Jerseys, because they are possessed 
by Mynheers and fighting christians, and seized 
on Pennsylvania, claimed by Quakers, who fight 
not either for wife or daughter. They filled up 
their fathers' iniquities, by murdering the Qua- 
kers and Indians, and taking possession of their 
lands ; and no doubt, in another century, they 
will produce deeds of sale from Sunksquaw, Un 
cas, or some other suppositious Sachem. This 
is a striking instance of the use I have said the 
colony sometimes make of their charter, to coun- 
tenance and support their adventurous spirit of 
enterprise. Tliey plead that their charter bounds 
them on the west by the South Sea; but they 
seem to have forgotten that their charter was sur- 
reptitiously obtained ; and that the clause on 
which they dwell is rendered nugatory, by the pe- 
titioners having described their lands as lying 
upon Connecticut river, and obtained partly by 
conquest. Now, it being a fact beyond all con- 
troversy, that they then had not conquered, nor 
even pretended to have purchased, any lands 
west of Hudson's River, it is evident that their 
westernmost boundary never did or ought to ex- 
tend further than to that river. Not that Mr. Penn 
had any just title to the lands on Susquehanna 



88 HISTORY OF eoNNECTlCUT. 

river which are the bone of contention, and whicfi 
lie north of his patent: they belong to the assigns 
of the Plymouth Company, or to the Crown of 
England. 

Republicanism, schims, and persecutions, have 
ever prevailed in this Colony. — The religion of 
" Sober Dissenters^- having been established by 
the General Assembly, each sect claimed the es- 
tablishment in its favor. The true Independents 
denied that the Assembly had any further power 
over Christ's Church than to protect it. Few 
Magistrates of any religion are willing to yield 
their authority to Ecclesiastics; and few disci- 
ples of Luther or Calvin are willing to obey 
either civil or spiritual masters. In a Colony 
where the people are thus disposed, dominion 
will be religion, and faction conscience. Hence 
arose contentions between the Assembly and In- 
dependents ; and both parties having been 
brought up under Cromwell, their battles were 
well fought. The independent Ministers published 
from their pulpits, that the Assembly played ofi^ 
one sect against another; and that Civilians were 
equal enemies to all parties, and acted more 
for their own interest than the Glory of God. 
Those spiritual warriors, by their associations, 
fasting and prayers, voted themselves the " Sober 
Dissenters ^^^ and got the better of the General As- 
sembly. Indeed, none disputed their vote with 
impunity. Whenever a Governor manifested an 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. S9 

inclination to govern Christ's Ministers, Christ's 
Ministers were sure to instruct the freemen not 
to re-elect him. The Magistrates declared they 
had rather be under Lords-Bishops, than Lords- 
Associations. A Governor was appointed, who 
determined to reduce Christ's Ministers under the 
Civil Power; and, accordingly, the Assembly 
sent their Sheriff to bring before them certciin 
leading men among the Ministers, of whom they 
banished some, silenced others, and fined many, 
for preaching sedition. The Ministers told the 
Assembly, that curst cows had short horns; and 
that "they were Priests forever after the order of 
Melchisedecy However, like good christians, 
they submitted to the sentence of the Assembly ; 
went home, fasted, and prayed, until the Lord 
pointed out a perfect cure for all their sufferings. 
On the day of election, they told the freemen that 
the Lord's cause required a man of Grace to 
stand at the head of the Colony, and with sure con- 
fidence recommended the Moderator of the As- 
sociation to be thei'T Governor; and the Modera- 
tor was chosen. This event greatly inflamed the 
lay-magistrates, who were further mortified to see 
Mmisters among the Representives ; whereupon 
they cried out, " This is a presbyterian popedom." 
Now magistrates joined with other Churches 
which they had long persecuted; and the Con- 
necticut Vine was rent more and more every day. 

The Ministers kept the power, but not always the 

8^ 



90 HISTORY OF CONNECTICtJT, 

office of the Governor, whilst the weaker partf 
paid the cost. One party was called Old Lights 
the other New Light : both aimed at power un- 
der pretence of religion ; whichever got the pow- 
er, the other was persecuted. By this happy 
quarrel, the various sectarians were freed from 
their persecutions ; because each contending par- 
ty courted their votes and interest, to help to pull 
down its adversary. This has been the re- 
ligious-political free system and practice of Con- 
necticut since 1662. 

In speaking of the religious phrensies and per- 
secutions in Connecticut, under the sanction of 
the charter, I must notice the words of an eminent 
Quaker, who, as a blasphemer, had been whip- 
ped, branded, burnt in the tongue, set on the gal- 
lows, banished, and, upon return, sentenced to be 
hanged. "Dost thee not think," said he to his 
Judges, " that the Jews, who crucified the Savior 
of the world, had a Charter V^ 

Many have been the disputes between Con-- 
necticut and the neighboring colonies concerning 
their several boundaries, and much blood has been 
spilt on those occasions. On the north and east, 
where lie the Massachusetts and Rhode Island, 
Connecticut has, in some degree, been the gain- 
er; but has lost considerably on the west and 
south, to the engendering violent animosity 
against the loyal New-Yorkers, to whom it will; 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 91 

probably prove fatal in the end. The detail is 
briefly as follows : 

The Dutch settlers on New-York Island, Hud- 
son's river, and the west end of Long Island, 
being subdued by Colonel Nichols in September, 
1664, the royal Commissioners, after hearing the 
Deputies from Connecticut in support of the 
charter granted to that province against the Duke 
of York's patent, ordered, in December following, 
that Long Island should be annexed to the gov- 
ernment of New-York, and that the West boun- 
dary of Connecticut should be a line drawn from 
the mouth of Mamaroneck river, N. N. W. to 
the line of the Massachusetts. This settlement, 
although it infringed their charter, was peacea- 
bly acquiesced in by the people of Connecticut .' 
and not complained of by those of New-York till 
1683, when they set up a claim founded on a 
Dutch grant, said to have been made in 1621, of 
all the lands from Cape Cod to Cape Henlopen. 
In furtherance of their pretensions, they had re- 
course to invasion and slander. Of the latter Mr. 
Smith has given a specimen in his History of 
New-York, where he says that the agreement in 
1664 "was founded in ignorance and fraud ;'^ 
because, forsooth, "a N. N. W. line from Mama- 
roneck would soon intersect Hudson's river !" 
Could any one of common sense suppose the 
Dutch on the banks of Hudson's river, who no 
doubt were consulted upon the occasion, less ac- 



92 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

quainted with the course of it, than persons resi* 
ding on the banks of the Connecticut? Extraor- 
dinarily absurd as such an insinuation might be, 
the people of Connecticut were aware of its pro- 
bable weight with the Duke of York, whose pa- 
tent grasped half of their country ; and therefore, 
knowing by whom a contest must be decided, 
they consented to give up twenty miles of their 
land east of Hudson's river, hoping that would 
content a company of time-serving Jacobites and 
artful Dutchmen. But neither were they nor 
their Patron satisfied ; and the agreement was 
suspended till 1700, when it was confirmed by 
William III. About twenty years afterwards, 
however, the New-Yorkers thought the times fa- 
vorable to further encroachments ; and at length, 
in 1731, they gained 60,000 acres more, called 
the Oblong, from Connecticut, purely because 
they had Dutch consciences, and for once report- 
ed in England what was true, that the New-Eng- 
Jand colonists hated kings, whether natives or 
foreigners. Mr. Smith, indeed, p. 238, says, re- 
ferring to Douglas'* Plan of the British Dominions 

*Mr. Douglas was a naturalist, and a physician of con- 
siderable eminence in Boston, where he never attended any 
religious worship, having been educated in Scotland with 
such rancorous hatred against episcopacy^ tltat with his 
age, it ripened into open scepticism and deism. However, 
his many severities against the Episcopahans, New-Lights, 
and Quakers, procured him a good name among the Old- 



HISTORY OF CONNECflCUT, QB 

©t' New-England in support of his assertion, that 
'' Connecticut ceded these sixty thousand acres 
to New- York, as an equivalent for lands near the 
Sound surrendered to Connecticut by New-York." 
Mr. Smith, and all the New-York cabal, know, 
that there never were any lands in the possession 
of the New-Yorkers, surrendered to Connecticut : 
on the contrary, Connecticut was forced, by the 
partiality of sovereigns, to give up, not only Long 
Island and the above-mentioned twenty miles 
east of Hudson's river, but also the Oblong, with- 
out any equivalent. How New-York could sur- 
render lands and tenements which they never had 
any right to, or possession of, is only to be ex- 
plained thus ; whereas the people of New- York 
did not extend their eastern boundary to Con- 
necticut river, they therefore surrendered to Con- 
necticut what they never had ; which is like a 
highwayman's saying to a gentleman, give me 
ten guineas, and I will surrender to you your 
watch in your pocket. 

Thus by degrees has Connecticut lost a tract 
of land sixty miles in length, and above twenty 



Lights, and the mongrel christians of New- York, whose 
policy and self-interest have always domineered over con- 
science and morality. For these reasons, his brother Smith, 
in his History of New- York, frequently quotes him to prove 
his futile assertions against New-England, New-Jersey and 
Pennsvlvania. 



34 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

in breadth, together with the whole of Long Isl- 
and ; and this in the first place by a stretch of 
royal prerogative, and afterwards by the chicane- 
ry of their competitors, who have broken through 
all agreements as often as a temporising conduct 
seemed to promise them success. Whenever, 
therefore, a favorable opportunity presents itself, 
there is no doubt, but Messrs. Smith and Livings- 
ton, and other pateroons in New-York, will find 
the last determination also to have been " found- 
ed in ignorance and fraud," and will be pushing 
their claim to all the lands west of Connecticut 
river ; but the opportunity must be favorable in- 
deed, that allows them to encroach one foot far- 
ther vvith impunity. 

Another stroke the people of Connecticut re- 
reived about 1753 has sorely galled them ever 
since, and contributed not a little to their thirst 
of revenge. The Governor of New- York was 
then appointed "Captain-General and Comman- 
der in Chief of the militia, and all the forces by 
sea and land, within the colony of Connecticut, 
and of all the forts and places of strength within 
the same." This violation of the charter of Con- 
necticut by George IL was very extraordinary, 
as the reins of government were then in the hands 
of protestant dissenters, whose supposed venera- 
tion for the House of Hanover operated so pow- 
erfully, that the American protestant dissenting 
ministers were allowed to be installed teachers^ 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT* 95 

and to hold synods, without taking the oath of 
allegiance to the English King, at the Same time 
that papists, and even members of the Church of 
England, were not excused that obligatiori. The 
aggravating appointment above mentioncned ad- 
ded no celebrity to the name of George II. in 
New-England ; nor, however excusable it may 
appear in the eyes of those who with me question 
the colonial pretensions of the people of Connecti- 
icutjwas it, upon the ground they have been allow- 
ed to stand by the English government, justifiable 
in point of right, nor yet in point of poLcy, were 
the true character of the New-Yorkers fully 
known. This argument may be used on more 
occasions than the present. 

But Connecticut hath not been the only suffer- 
er from the restless ambition of New-York. 
Twenty miles depth of land belonging to the 
Massachusetts and New-Hampshire provinces, 
which formerly claimed to Hudson's river, were 
cut off by the line that deprived Connecticut of 
the same proportion of its western territory. 
With this acquisition, surely, the New-Yorkers 
might have been content ; but very lately their 
ivisdom, if not their " fraud," has prevailed over 
the " ignorance" of New-Hampshire ; which has 
sustained another amputation of its territory, 
eighty miles in width and two hundred miles in 
length : viz. all the land between the above men- 
tioned twenty mile line and Connecticut river. 



&6 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

The particulars of this transaction are interesting. 
Beiining Wentworth, Esq, Governor of New- 
Hampshire, by order of his present Majesty, di- 
vided, in 17G2, the vast tract of land jnst men- 
tioned into about 360 townships, six miles square 
each. These townships he granted to proprie- 
tors belonging to the four provinces of New-Eng- 
land, one township to sixty proprietors ; and took 
his fees for the same, according to royal appoint- 
ment. Every township was, in twelve years time, 
to have sixty families residing in it. In 1769 
there were settled on this piece of land, 30,000 
souls, at a very great expense ; and many town- 
ships contained 100 families. The New-Yorkers 
found means to deceive the King, and obtained a 
decree that the East boundary of New-York, af- 
ter passing Connecticut and Massachusetts-Bay, 
should be Connecticut river.* This decree an- 
nexed to the jurisdiction of New-York the said 
360 townships; but was quietly submitted to by 
the proprietors, since it was his majesty's will to 
put them under the jurisdiction of New-York, 
though they found themselves 150 miles farther 



* Perhaps their success was facilitated by the considera- 
tion, that the quit-rent payable to the Crown in New-York 
is 2s. 6d. per 100 acres, but only 9d. in New Hampshire. 
The same may be said, with still more reason, in reg-ard to 
the lands acquired by New-York from Massachusetts-Bay 
and Connecticut, where the quit rent is nothing. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICCT. 9t 

from their new capital New-York, than tliey were 
from Portsmouth, their old one. Had the New- 
Yorkers rested satisfied with the jurisdiction, 
which alone the King had given them, they might 
have enjoyed their acquisition in peace; and New- 
England would have thought they had possessed 
some justice, though destitute of religious zeal. 
But the Governor and General Assembly of New- 
York, finding their interest in Old-England stron- 
ger than the interest of the New-Englanders, de- 
termined at once, that, as the King had given 
them jurisdiction over those 360 townships, he 
had also given them the lands in fee simple. Sir 
Henry More, the Governor, therefore, in 17G7, be- 
gan the laudable work of regraiiting those town- 
ships to such people as lived in New- York, and 
were willing to pay him 600Z. York currency for 
his valuable name to each patent. It is remarka- 
ble that Sir Harry made every lawyer in the whole 
province a patentee ; but totally forgot the four 
public lots, viz. that for the Society for the pro- 
pagation of the Gospel, those for the church, the 
first clergyman, and school in each township, 
which had been reserved in Governor Went- 
worth's grants. Death stopped his career; but 
Golden, the Lieutenant-Governor, filled up the 
measure of his iniquity, by granting all the rest 
on the same conditions. Sir Henry More had ta- 
ken care to grant to his dear self one township, 
settled with above 80 families, before he died. 

9 



98 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

Golden did the same for himself. The virtuous 
William Smith, Esq. of New-York, had a town- 
ship also; and Sir Henry More left him his ex- 
ecutor to drive off the New-England settlers. 
This, however, he attempted in vain. The polite 
New-Yorkers, having the jurisdiction, betook 
themselves to law, to get possession of the lands 
in question, which they called their own; and 
sent the posse of Albany to eject the possessors ; 
but this mighty power was answered by Ethan 
Allen, and the old proprietors under Governor 
Wentvvorth, who was a King's Governor as well as 
Sir Henry More : — the Mynheers of Albany were 
glad to have liberty to return home alive. See here 
the origin of Ethan Allen ! — of the Verdmonts, and 
the Robbers of the Green Mountains; a compli- 
ment paid by the New-Yorkers to the settlers un- 
der Governor Wentvvorth ; — who, on that amiable 
gentleman's death, had no friend of note left in 
England, and were therefore under the necessity of 
defending themselves, or becoming tenants to a 
set of people who neither /eared God nor honored 
the King, but when they got something by it. — 
The New-Yorkers had the grace, after this, to 
outlaw Ethan Allen, which rendered him of con- 
sequence in New-England ; and it would not sur- 
prise me to hear that New- York, Albany, and all 
that the Dutchmen possess in houses east of Hud- 
son's river, were consumed by fire, and the inha- 
bitants sent to Heaveii, in the style of Dr. Mather 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 99 

by the way of Amsterdam. I must do the New- 
Englanders the justice to say, that, though they 
esteem not highly Kings or Lords, yet they never 
complained against his Majesty for what was done 
respecting Verdmont; on the contrary they ever 
said the King would reverse the obnoxious de- 
cree, whenever he should be acquainted with the 
truth of the case, which the New-Yorkers artful- 
ly concealed from his knowledge. There are in 
the four New-England provinces near 800,000 
souls, and very few unconnected with the settle- 
ments on Verdmont ; the property of which was 
duly vested in them by Wentworth, the King's 
Governor, whose predecessors and himself had 
jurisdiction over it also for 106 years. They say, 
what is very legal and just, that his Majesty had a 
right to annex Verdmont to the government of 
New-York, but could not give the fee of the land, 
because he had before given it to the New-Eng- 
landers. It appears very unlikely that those hardy 
sons of Oliver will ever give up Verdmont to the 
Nevz-Yorkers by the order of Sir Henry More, or 
any other Governor, till compelled by the point 
of the sword. The Mynheers have more to fear 
than the New-Englanders, who will never yield 
to Dutch virtue. Van Tromp was brave ; Oliver 
was brave and successful too. 

Mather, Neal, and Hutchinson, represent reli- 
gion to have been the cause of the first settlement 
of New-England ; and the love of gold as the 



I GO HISTORY or CONNECTICUT. 

Stimulus of the Spaniards in settling their colo- 
nies in the southern parts of America; but, if we 
should credit the Spanish historians, we must be- 
lieve that their countrymen were as much influ- 
enced by religion, in their colonial pursuits, as 
were our own. However, in general, it may be 
said, that the conduct of both parties towards the 
aborigines discovered no principles but what 
were disgraceful to human nature. Murder, 
plunder, and outrage, were the means made use 
of to convert the benighted savages of the wil- 
derness to the system of Him " who went about 
doing good." If we may depend on Abbe Ni- 
colle, the Spaniards killed of the Aytis, or the 
savage nations, in the Island of Hispaniola, 
3,000,000 in seventeen years ; 600,000 in Porto 
Rico, and twenty times these numbers on the 
continent of South America, in order to propa-^ 
gate the Gospel in a savage and howling wilder- 
ness ! The English colonists have been as indus- 
trious in spreading the Gospel in the howling wil- 
derness of North America. Upwards of 180,000 
Indians, at least, have been slaughtered in Mas- 
sachusetts-Bay and Connecticut,* to make way 

* In 1680, the number of Indians, or aborigines, in the 
whole province of Connecticut, was 4,000. This was al- 
lowed by the General Assembly. How much greater their 
number was in 1637, may be estimated from the accounts 
given by Dr. Mather, Mr. Neal, Mr. Penhallow, and Mr. 
Hutchinson, of the deaths of Englishmen in the Indian wars 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 101 

for the protestant religion; and, upon a moderate 
computation for the rest of the colonies on the 
Continent and West-India Islands, I think one 
may venture to assert, that near 2,000,000 sava- 
ges have been dismissed from an unpleasant 
world to the world of spirits, for the honor of the 
protestant religion and English liberty. Never- 
theless, having travelled over most parts of Bri- 
tish America, I am able to declare, with great 
sincerity, that this mode of converting the native 
Indians is godlike in comparison with that adopt- 
ed for the Africans. These miserable people 
are first kidnapped, then jmt under saws, har- 



for the space of forty-three years. It has been computed, 
that, from 1637 to 1680, upon an average, 100 Englishmen 
were killed yearly m those wars, and that there were killed 
with the sword, gun, and small-pox, twenty Indians for one 
Englishman. If this calculation is just, it appears that the 
English killed of the Indians, during the above mentioned 
period, 86,000; to which number the 4,000 Indians re- 
maining in 1680 being added, it is clear that there were 
90,000 Indians in Connecticut when Hooker began his holy 
war upon them : not to form conjectures u[. on those who 
probably afterwards abandoned the country. This evinces 
the weakness of the Indian mode of fighting with bows and 
arrows against guns, and the impropriety of calling Con- 
necticut an hoiDling- inilderness in 1636, when Hooker arriv- 
ed at Hertford. The Enghsh in 136 years have not much 
more than doubled the number of Indians they killed in 43 
years. In 1770 the number of Indians in Connecticut 
amounted not to 400 souls. 

9* 



102 HISTORY OP Connecticut; 

rows and axes of h^on, and forced through fht 
brick-kiln to Molock. Near half a million of 
them are doomed to hug their misery in igno- 
rance, nakedness, and hunger, among their mas- 
ter's upper servants in Georgia, the Carolinas^ 
Virginia, and Maryland. The number of these 
wretches upon the continent and Islands is scarce 
credible; above 100,000 in Jamaica alone; all 
toiling for the tyrant's pleasure ; none seeking 
other happiness than to be screened from the 
torture rendered necessary by that curious Ame- 
rican maxim, that men must be willing to die be- 
fore they are Jit for the Kingdom of Heaven, 
However, what Mussulman, African, or Ameri- 
can, would not prefer the state of a christian 
master, who dreads death above all things, to the 
state of those christian converts'? Christianity 
has been cursed through the insincerity of its 
professors ; even savages despise its precepts, be- 
cause they have no influence on christians them- 
selves. Whatever religious pretences the Span- 
iards, French, or English may plead for depopu- 
lating and repeopling America, it is pretty clear 
that the desire of gold and dominion was no im- 
potent instigation with them to seek the western 
continent. The British leaders in the scheme of 
emigration had felt the humiliating effects of the 
feudal system; particularly the partial distribu- 
tion of fortunes and honors amonir children of 
the same venter in the mother country. They 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 103 

had seen that this inequality produced insolence 
and oppression, which awakened the sentiments of 
independence and liberty, the instincts of every 
man. Nature then kindh^d war against the op- 
pressors, and the oppressors appealed to prescrip- 
tion. The event was, infelicity began her reign. 
Both parties invoked religion, but prostrated 
themselves before the insidious shrine of super- 
stition, the life of civil government, and the si- 
news of war; that expiates crimes by prayers^ 
uses ceremonies for good works, esteems devotion 
more than virtue, supports religion without pro- 
bity, values honesty less than honor, generates 
happiness without morality, and is a glorious 
helmet to the ambitious. They enlisted vassals 
with her bounty, to fight, burn, and destroy one 
another, for the sake of religion. Behold the se- 
quel ! The vassals secured to themselves more 
than Egyptian masters and laws, both in the el- 
der and younger brothers ; yet, after all. Super- 
stition told them they enjoyed liberty and the 
rights of human nature. Happy deception ! The 
Spartan Magnotes, tributary to the Turks, are 
jealous of their liberties ; while the American 
Cansez, near lake Superior, enjoy liberty com- 
plete without jealousy. Among the latter, the 
conscious independence of each individual warms 
his thoughts and guides his actions. He enters 
the sachemic dome with the same simple freedom 
as he enters the wigwam of his brother ; neither 



1G4 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT- 

dazzled at the splendor, nor awed by the power 
of the possessor. Here is liberty in perfection ! 
What Christian would wish to travel 4,000 miles 
to rob an unoifending savage of what he holds by 
the law of nature ! That is not the Gold or Do- 
minion that any Christian ever sought for. The 
first settlers of Ameri;ja had views ^ery different 
from those of making it a christian country : their 
grand aim was to get free irom the insolence of 
their elder brethren, and to aggrandize themselves 
in a new world, at the expense of the life, liberty, 
and property, of the savages. Had the invaders 
of New-England sown the seeds of christian be- 
nevolence, even after they had eradicated the 
savao-es and savage virtues, the world would not 
have reproached them for cherishing that all- 
grasping spirit in themselves, which in others had 
driven them from their parent country : but the 
feudal system, which they considered as an abom- 
inable vice in England, became a shining virtue 
on the other side of the Atlantic, and would have 
prevailed there, had the people been as blind and 
tame in worldly, as they were in spiritual con- 
cerns. But they had too long heard their lead- 
ers declaim against the monopoly of lands and 
titles, not to discover that they themselves were 
men, and entitled to the rights of that race of be- 
ing's ; and they proceeded upon the same maxims 
which they found also among the Indians, viz. 
that mankind are, by nature, upon an equality in 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 105 

point of rank and possession ; that it is incompati- 
ble with freedom for any particular descriptions 
of men systematically to monopolize honors and 
property, to the exclusion of the rest ; that it was 
a part despicable and unworthy of one freeman 
to stoop to the will and caprice of another, on ac- 
count of his wealth and titles, accruing not from 
his owu; but from the heroism and virtue of his 
ancestors, &c. &c. The vox populi estabhshed 
these maxims in New-England ; and whoever did 
not, at least, outwardly conform to them, were 
not chosen into office: nay, though not objec- 
tionable on that score, men very seldom met with 
re-appointments, lest they should claim them b}^ 
hereditary right. Thus, the levelling principle 
prevailing, equals were respected and superiors 
derided. Europeans, whose manners were haugh- 
ty to inferioffs and fawning to superiors, were 
neither loved nor esteemed. Hence an English 
traveller through Connecticut meets with super- 
cilious treatment at taverns, as being too much ad- 
dicted to the use of the imperative mood, when 
speaking to the landlord. The answer is, " Com- 
mand your own servants, and not me." The travel- 
ler is not obeyed ; which provokes him to some ex- 
pressions that are not legal in the colony, about 
the impertinence of the landlord, who being com- 
monly a justice of the peace, the delinquent is 
immediately ordered into custody, fined, or put 
into the stocks. However, after paying costs 



106 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

and promising to behave well in future, he passes 
on with more attention to his "unruly menioer" 
than to his pleasures- Nevertheless, if a travel- 
ler softens his tone, and avoids the imperative 
mood, he will find every civility from those very 
people, whose natural tempers are full of antipa- 
thy against all who affect superiority over lliom. 
This principle is, by long custom, blended with 
the religious doctrines of the province : and the 
people believe those to be heretics and Armini- 
ans who assent not to their supremacy. Hence 
they consider kingly Governors as the short 
horns of antichrist, and every Colony in a state of 
persecution which cannot choose its own Gover- 
nor and Magistrates. Their aversion to New- 
York is inconceiveably great on this account, as 
well as others I have mentioned. Their jealous- 
ies and fears of coming under its jurisdiction 
make them heroes in the cause of liberty, and 
great inquisitors into the characters and conduct 
of all kingly Governors. They have selected Mr. 
Tryon as the only English Governor wlio has act- 
ed with justice and generosity in respect to the 
rights, liberties, and feelings, of mankind, while, 
they say, avarice, plunder, and oppression, have 
marked the footsteps of all the rest. This cha- 
racter Mr. Tryon possessed, even after he had 
subdued the R.egulators in North-Carolina, and 
was appointed Governor of New-York. Some 
persons assert, indeed, that he secured the good 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 107 

Will of Connecticut, by recommending, in Eng- 
land, the Livingstons, Schuylers, and Smiths, as 
the best subjects in New- York. However, Mr. 
Tryon was undoubtedly entitled to good report : 
he was humane and polite : to him the injured 
had access without a fee : he would hear the poor 
man's complaint, though it wanted the aid of a 
polished lawyer. Besides, Mr. Tryon did not 
think it beneath him to speak to a peasant in the 
street, or to stop his coach to give people an op- 
portunity to let him pa^s. His object was not to 
make his fortune, nor did he neglect the interest of 
the people. He embellished not his language with 
oaths and curses, nor spent the Sabbath at ta- 
verns. 'Tis true, Mr. Tryon went not to meet- 
ing ; but he was forgiven this otfence, because 
he went to church ; the people of New-England 
having so much candor as to believe a man may 
be a good sort of a man, if he goes to church, 
and is exemplary in his words and deeds. I have 
not the honor of being known to Mr. Tryon, but, 
from what I know of him, I must say, without 
meaning to oftend any other, that he was the 
best Governor, and the most pleasing gentleman 
that I ever saw in a civil capacity in America; 
and that I cannot name any Briton so well calcu- 
lated to govern in Connecticut, with ease and 
safety to himself, as he is. One reason for this 
assertion is, that Mr. Tryon has a punctilious re- 
gard for his word ; a quality, which, though 



108 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT^ 

treachery is the staple commodity of the four 
New-England provinces, the people greatly ad- 
mire in a Governor, and which, they say, they 
have seldom found in royal Governors in Ameri- 
ca. But whither am I wandering ? I beg 

pardon for this disgression, though in favor of so 
worthy a man. 

Of the share Connecticut has taken, n common 
with her sister colonies, in co-operating with the 
Mother country against her natural enemies, it is 
superfluous to say any thing here, that being al- 
ready sufficiently known. I shall therefore pro- 
ceed to a description of the country, its towns, 
productions, &c. together with the manners, cus- 
toms, commerce, &c. of the inhabitants, inter- 
spersing such historical and biographical anec- 
dotes, as may occur to me in the relation, and 
have a tendency to elucidate matter of fact, or 
characterize the people. 

The dimensions of Connecticut, according to 
its present all )wed extejit, are, from the Sound, 
on the south, to the Massachusetts line, on the 
north, about sixty miles ; and from Biram river 
and New- York line, on the west, to Narrnganset 
Bay, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts Bay, on 
the east, upon an average, about one hundred 
miles. It is computed to contain 5,000,000 
acres. 

Many creeks and inlets, bays, and rivers inter- 
sect the coast. Three of the last, dividing the 



HISTORY OF CONNLCTICL'i*. lOV) 

i:uiony into as many parts, I shall particularly iro- 
tico They all run from north to south. ' 

The eastern river is called the ThameF as iar 
as it is navigable, which is only to Norwich, 14 
miles from its mouth. There dividing, the great- 
est branch, called Quinnibaug, rolls rapidly from 
its source 100 miles distant through many towns 
and villages, to their great pleasantness and pro- 
fit. On it are many mills and iron works; and 
in it various kinds of fish; but no salmon, for 
w-ant of proper places to nourish their spawn. 

The middle river is named Connotticut, after 
the great Sachem to whom that part of the pro- 
vince through which it runs belonged. This vast 
river is 500 miles long, and four miles wide at its 
mouth : its channel, or inner banks, in general, 
half a mile wide. It takes its rise from the White 
Hills, in the north of New-England, where also 
springs the river Kennebec. Above 500 rivulets, 
which issue from lakes, ponds, and drowned lands, 
fidl into it : many of them are larger than the 
Thames at London. In March, when the rain 
and sun melt the snow and ice. each stream is 
overcharged, and kindly liastens to this great 
river, to overflow, fertilize, and preserve its trem- 
bling^ mearlows. They lift up enormors cakes of 
ice, I'orsting from their frozen beds with threaten- 
ing intentions of ph,wing up ihe frighted earth, 
and carry them rap-dly down tl^e falls, uheretbey 

are daslied in pieces and rise in mist. Except at 

10 



110 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

these falls, of which there are five, the first sixty 
miles from its mouth, the river is navigable 
throughout. In its northern parts are three great 
bondings, called coho^ses, about 100 miles asun- 
der. Two hundred miles from the Sound is a 
narrow of five yards only, formed by two shelving 
mountains of solid tock, whose tops intercept the 
clouds. Through this chasm are compelled to 
pass all the waters whicfi in the time of the floods 
bury the northern country. At the upper cohos 
the nver then spreads several miles wide, and for 
five or six weeks ships of war might sail over 
lands, that afterwards produce the greatest crops 
of hay and grain in all America. People who 
can bear the sight, the groans, the tremblings, 
and surly motion of water, trees, and ice, th.rough 
this awful passage, view with astonishment one of 
the greatest phenomenons in nature. Here water 
is consolidated, without frost, by pressure, by 
swiftness, between the pinching, sturdy rocks, to 
such a degree of induration, that an iron crow 
floats smoothly down its current : — here iron, l(;ad, 
and cork, have one common weight : — here, steady 
as time, and harder than marble, the stream passes 
irresistible, if not swift, as lightning : — the elec- 
tric fire rends trees in pieces with no greater ease, 
than does this mighty water. The passage is 
about 400 yards in length, and of a zigzag form, 
with obtuse corners. The following representa- 
tion will assist the reader in forming an idea of it. 



il2 HlSTORy OF CONNECTICUT. 

At high water are carried through this straight 
masts and other timber with incredible swtftness, 
and sometimes with safety ; but when the water 
is too low, the masts, timber^nd trees, strike on 
one side or the other, and, though of the largest 
size, are rent in one moment, into shivers, and 
>plintered like a broom, to the amazement of 
spectators. The meadows, for many miles be- 
low, are covered with immense quantities of 
wood thus torn in peices, which compel the har- 
diest travellers to reflect how feeble is man, and 
how great that Almighty who formed the light- 
nings, thunders, and the irresistable power and 
strength of waters ! 

No living creature was ever known to pass 
through this narrow, except an Indian woman, 
who was in a canoe, attempting to cross the river 
above it, but carelessly suffered herself to fall 
within the power of the current. Perceiving her 
danger, she took a bottle of rum she had with her, 
and drank the whole of it; then lay down in her 
canoe, to meet her destiny. She marvelously 
went tiirough safely, and was taken out of the 
canoe some miles belo\v„ quite intoxicated, by 
some En«rlishmen. Bein«: asked how she could 
be so daringly imprudent as to drink such a qua!>- 
tity of rum with the pros{)cct of instant death be- 
fore her, tlie sc[uw, as well as her condition would 
let her, replied, " Yes, it was too much rum for 
once, to be sure ; but I was not willing to lose ct 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 




DANGEROUS PASSAGE 

Of an Indian Woman through the narrows of Gonnecti- 
€ut River. 

(Page 111.) 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 113 

drop of it; so I drank it, and yoa see I have 
saved all." 

Some persons assert that salmon have been 
(•aught above this narrow, while others deny it. 
Many have observed salmon attempt to pass in 
time of floods, which certainly is the best and 
likeliest time, as, from the height of the uater, 
and the shelving of the rocks, the passage is then 
l)roader^ but they were always thrown back, and 
generally killed. It is not to be supposed that 
any fish could pass with the stream alive. Above 
this narrow there is plenty offish both in summer 
and winter, which belong to the lakes or ponds 
that communicate with the river: below it are 
the greatest abundance and variety caught or 
known in North-America. No salmon are found 
in any river to the westward of this. 

Except the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, the 
(::onnecticut is the largest river belonging to the 
English plantations in the New World. On each 
^hore of it are two great roads leading from the 
mouth 200 miles up the country, lined on both sides 
with the best built houses in America, if not in 
the world. It is computed, that the country on 
each bank of this river, to a depth of six miles, 
and a length of 300, is sufficient for the mainte- 
nance of an army of 100,000 men. In short the 
neighboring spacious and fertile meadow, arable, 
and other lands combined with this noble nver, 

10* 



1 14 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

are at once the beauty and main support of all 
New-England. 

The western river is navigable and called Strat- 
ford only for ten miles where Derby stands ; and 
then takes the name of Osootonoc. It is fifty miles 
west from Connecticut river, and half a mile wide. 
It rises in the Verdmonts, above 200 miles from 
the sea, and travels 300 miles through many plea- 
sant towns and villages. The adjacent meadows 
are narrow, and the country in general very hilly. 
With some expense it might be made navigable 
above 100 miles. It furnishes fish of various 
kinds, and serves many mills and iron-works. 

Two principal bays, named Sassacus or New- 
London, and Q,uinnipiog or New-Haven, run five 
or six miles into the country, and are met by 
rivers whicli formerly bore the Sachems names. 

It has already been observed, that Connecticut 
was settled under three distinct independent 
Governors ; and that each Dominion, since their 
union in 1664, has been divided into two coun- 
ties. 

The Kingdom op Sassacus, Sachem of the Pe- 
quods, a warlike nation, forms the counties of 
New-London and Windham, which contain about 
10,000 houses, and 60,000 inhabitants. Sassacus 
was brave by nature. The sound of his coming 
would subdue nations, at the same time that Jus- 
tice would unbend his bow, and Honor calm the 
thunder of his tongue. Dr. Mather, Mr. Neal, 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 115 

and others, have endeavored to blast his fame by 
proving him to have been the aggressor in the 
bloody wars which ended in his ruin. They have 
instanced the murder of Captain Stone and others, 
to justify this war, but carefully concealed the 
assassination of Quinnipiog, the treachery of Mr. 
Elliot (the Massachusetts-Bay apostle of the In- 
dians,) and the infamous villainy of Hooker, who 
spread death upon the leaves of his Bible, and 
struck Connecticote mad with disease. They 
also conceal another important truth, that the 
English had taken possession of land belonging 
to Sassacus, without purchase or his consent. 
Besides, Sassacus had too much sagacity to let 
christian spies, under the appellation of gospel 
missionaries, pass through his country. He had 
seen the consequences of admitting such minis- 
ters of Christianity from Boston, Hertford, &c. 
among his neighboring nations, and generously 
warned them to keep their gospel of peace from 
his dominions. The invaders of this howling 
wilderness, finding their savage love detected, 
and that the Pequods were not likely to fall a sac- 
rifice to their hypocrisy, proclaimed open war 
with sword and gun. The unfortunate Sassacus 
met his fate. Alas ! he died — not like Connecti- 
cote, nor Q,uinnipiog — but in the field of battle ; 
and the freedom of his country expired with his final 
groan. This mighty conquest was achieved by 
the colonists of Connecticnt, ivithout the aid of 



116 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

the Massachusetts; nevertheless, Mr. Neal and 
others have ascribed the honor of it to the latter, 
with a view of magnifying their consequence, ever 
Mr. Neal's grand object. 

The county of New-London abounds chiefly 
with wooL butter, cheese, and Indian crn ; and 
contains eight towns, all of which I shall de- 
scribe. 

Keiv -London has the river Thames on the east, 
and the bay of its own name on the south, and re- 
sembles Islington. Its port and harbor are the 
best in the colony. The church, the meeting, 
and cuurt-house, are not to be boasted of; the 
fort is trifling. The houses in this, as in all the 
towns in the province, are insulated, at the dis- 
tance of three, four, or five yards one from the 
otiier, to prevent the ravages of fire. That of 
John Winthrop, Esq. is the best in the province. 
The township is ten miles square, and comprises 
five parishes, one of which is episcopal. Abime- 
leck, a descendant of the first English-made king 
of Mohegin, resides with his small party in this 
township. He is a king to whom the people pay 
some respect, — because they made him so. 

The people of this town have the credit of in- 
renting tar and feathers as a proper punishment 
for heresy. They first inflicted it on quakers and 
anabaptists. 

New-London has a printing press, much exer- 
cised in the business of printing pamphlets, ser- 



HISTGIIY OF CONNECTICUT. 117 

iiioiis and nevvsyjapers. It is employed by the 
Governor and Company, and is the oldest and 
best in the colony. New-Haven, Hertford, and 
Norwich, also, have each a printing press ; so that 
the people are plentifully supplied with news, poli- 
tics, and polemical divinity. A very extraor- 
dinary circumstance happened here in 1740. 
Mr. George Whitefield paid tliem a visit, and 
preached of righteousness, temperance, and a 
judgment to come, which roused them into the be- 
lief of a heaven and a hell. They became as 
children iveaned, and pliable as melted wax, and 
with great eagerness cried out, What shall we da 
tohe saved^l The preacher, then in the pulpit, 
thus answered them, " Repent — do violence to 
no man — part with your self-righteousness, your 
silk gowns, and laced petticoats — burn your ruf^ 
fles, necklaces, jewels, rings, tinselled waistcoats, 
your morality and bishop's books, this very night, 
or damnation will be your portion before the 
morning dawn." The people, rather througli 
fear than faith, instantly went out on the common, 
and prepared for heaven, by burning all the 
abo^'e enumerated goods, excepting that of self- 
righteousness, which was exchanged for the 
preacher's velvet breeches. — Vide Th\ Chancey.^' 
(h'oton, across the bay from New-London, re- 
sembles Battersea. T'le township is ten miles 



^Finppl'jment, Note X= 



Ili5 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

square, and forms four parishes, one of which is 
episcopal. This town is the residence of tho va- 
liant Sassacus, Sachem of the Pequod nation. 

Stonington lies on Narraganset bay, is the east 
corner of Connecticut, and consists of three pa- 
rishes. The township is eight miles square. 

Preston, on Quinnibaug river, forms three pa- 
rishes, one of which is episcopal. The township 
is eight miles square. 

A^orwich, on the Thames, 14 miles from the sea, 
is an half-shire with New-London. The town 
stands on a plain, one mile from Chelsea, or the 
Landing. Its best street is two miles long, and 
has good houses on both sides, five yards asunder 
from each other. In the centre is a common, of 
the size of Bloomsbury square, in which stand a 
beautiful court-house^ and a famous meeting with 
clocks, bells, and steeples. The township is fif- 
teen miles square, and forms 13 parishes, one 
episcopal. Chelsea, or the Landing, resembles 
Dover. [Here land is sold at fifteen shillings 
sterling by the square toot.] This town is fa- 
mous for its trade ; for iron-works, grist, paper, 
linseed, spinning and fulling mills ; also for a fur- 
nace that makes stone ware. Some peculiarities 
and curiosities here attract the notice of Europe- 
ans : — L a bridge over Quinnibaug, 60 yards 
long, butted on two rocks, and geometrically sup- 
pi fed; under wbi<b pass sliips with all their 
sails standing : — 2. the steeple of the grand meet- 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 119 

iDg-Iiouse stands at the east end : — 3. the inha- 
bitants bury their dead with their feet to the west. 
The following couplet was written by a traveller 
on the steeple : 

" They're so perverse and opposite, 
As if they built to God in spite." 

The reasons for the singular custom of burying 
the dead with their feet to the west, are two, and 
special : first, when Christ begins his millenarian 
reign, he will come from the west, and his saints 
will be in a ready posture to rise and meet him : 
secondly, the papists and episcopalians bury their 
dead with their feet to the east. 

Was I to give a character of the people of Nor- 
wich, I would do it in the words of the famous 
Mr. George Whitefield, (who was a good judge 
of mankind,) in his farewell sermon to them a 
short time before his death ; viz. " When I first 
preached in this magnificent house, above 20 
years ago, I told you, that you were part beast, 
part man, and part devil ; at which you were of- 
fended. I have since thought much about that 
expression, and confess that for once I was mis- 
taken. I therefore take this my last opportunity 
to correct my error. Behold ! I now tell you, 
that you are not part man and part beast, but 
wholly of the devil." 

Lyme stands on the east side of Connecticut 
river, opposite Saybrook ; and resembles Lewis- 



'120 HISTORY OF CONXKCTICUT. 

ham. The tovvnsiiip is 16 miles long, and 8 wide, 
and forms f )ur parishes. 

Saybrook is f iluated on the west side of Con- 
necticut river, 20 miles west from New-London, 
and resembles Battersea. The townsliip is twenty 
miles long and six wide, and forms four parishes. 
This town was named after the Lords Say and 
Brook, who were said to claim the country^ and 
sent, in 1634, a Governor and a large number of 
people from England to build a fort and settle 
the colony. It was principally owing to this fort 
that Hertford and New-Iiaven made good their 
settlements : it prevented Sassacus from giving 
timely aid to Connecticote and Quinnipiog. 

Saybrook is greatly fallen from its ancient 
grandeur ; but is, notwithstanding, resorted to 
with great veneration, as the parent town of the 
whole colony. The tombs of the first settlers are 
held sacred, and travelhn-s seldom pass them with- 
out the compliment of a sigh or tear. On one 
mossy stone is written, 

" Here pri-.le is calinyd, and death is life." 

In 1709, this town was honored by a conven- 
tion of contending independent divines, wliou'cre 
pleased with no constitution in church or state. 
This multitude of sectarians, after Ions; debates, 
publislied n book, called The Saybrork Platf >rni 
containing the doctrines and rules of the churches 



JilSTORVr OB^ CONNECTICUT, 121 

ill Connecticut. The only novelty in this system 
is, that Christ has delegated his ministerial, king- 
ly, and prophetical power, one half to the peo- 
ple, and the other half to the ministers. This 
proposition may be thought in Europe a very 
strange one ; but, if it be recollected, that the 
people in the province claimed all power in hea- 
ven and on earth, and that the ministers had no 
other ordination than what came from the people, 
it will appear, that the ministers hereby gained 
from the people one half of iheir power. From 
this article originated the practice of the right 
hand of fellowship at the ordination of a minister. 
No one can be a minister, till he receives the 
right hand of the messenger who represents six 
deacons from six congregations. The conclusion 
of this reverend and venerable body is, "The 
Bible is our rule." 

Mr. Neal says p. 610, "That every particular 
society is a complete church, having power to 
exercise all ecclesiastical jurisdiction, without 
appeal to any classes : — they allow of synods for 
council and advice, but not to exercise the power 
of the keys." 

If Mr. Neal had taken the trouble to read the 
history of the Church of Massachusetts-Bay, writ- 
ten by the Rev. John Wise, a minister, of that 
church, he would have found that the contrary to 
all that he has advanced is the truth. The peo- 
ple of that province held the keys from 1620 to 

11 



122 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

1650 : then the ministers got possession of them 
by their own vote, which was passed into a law 
by the General Assembly. The vote was, " There 
cannot be a minister, unless he is ordained by 
ministers of Jesus Christ." Thus commenced or- 
dination by ministers in New England. The people 
were alarmed at the loss of the keys, and asked the 
ministers who had ordained them ^ The ministers 
answered, The people. Then, replied the people, 
we are the ministers of Jesus Christ, or you are 
not ministers ; and we will keep the power. A 
violent contest ensued between the people and 
the ministers ; but the latter, by the help of the 
General Assembly, retained the power of the 
keys and instituted three ecclesiastical courts, 
viz. 1. The Minister and his Communicants : 2. 
The Association : and, 3. The Synod. There 
lies an appeal from one to the other of these 
courts, all which exercise so much ecclesiastical 
power, that few are easy under it. The first 
court suspends from the communion ; the second 
re-hears the evidence, and confirms or sets aside 
the suspension ; the synod, after hearing the case 
again, excommunicates or discharges the accused. 
From this last judgment no appeal is allowed by 
the synod. The excommunicated person has no 
other resourse than petitioDing the General As- 
sembly of the province, which sometimes grants 
relief, to the great grief of the synod and minis- 
ters. But the representatives commonly pay dear 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 1231 

for overlooking the conduct of the synod at the 
next election. 

The people of Connecticut have adopted the 
same mode of discipline as prevails in Massachu- 
setts-Bay, but call a synod a Consociation, 

To shew that the synods are not quite so harm- 
less as Mr. Neal reports, I will give an instance 
of their authority exercised in Connecticut in 
1758. A Mr. Merret, of Lebanon, having lost 
his wife, with whom he had lived childless 40 
years, went to Rhode Island, and married a niece 
of his late wife, which was agreeable to the laws 
of that province. By her having a child, Mr. 
Merret offered the same for baptism to the minis- 
ter of whose church he was a member. The min- 
ister refused because it was an incestuous child ;, 
and cited Merret and his wife to appear before 
himself and his church upon an indictment of in- 
cest. Merret appeared ; the verdict was, Guilty 
of incest. He appealed to the association, which 
also found him guilty of hicest. He again ap- 
pealed to the consociation, and was again found 
guilty of incest. Merret and his wife were then 
ordered to separate, and to make a public confes- 
sion, on pain of excommunication. Merret re- 
fused ; whereupon the minister read the act of 
excommunication, while the deacons shoved Mer- 
ret out of the meeting-house. Being thus cast 
out of the synagogue, and debarred from the con- 
densation, of any one in the parish, it was well 



124 HISTORY OP CONNECTICUT. 

said by Mr. Merret, " If this be not to exercise 
the power of the keys, I know not what it is." The 
poor man soon after died of a broken heart, and 
was buried in his own garden by such christian 
brethren as were not afraid of the 77iild puissance 
of the consociation. 

Mr. Neal says, also, p. 609, after evincing his 
jealousy at the growth of the church of England 
in New-England, '' If the religious liberties of the 
plantations are invaded by the setting up of spi- 
ritual courts, &c. they will feel the sad effects of 
it." In this sentiment I agree with Mr. Neal ; 
but, unluckily, he meant the Bishop's courts, and 
I mean the courts of synods, composed of his 
"meek, exemplary, and learned divines of New- 
England," but who are more severe and terrible, 
than ever was the star-chamber under the influ- 
ence of Laud, or the inquisition of Spain. The 
ecclesiastical courts of New-England have, in the 
course of 160 years, bored the tongues with hot 
needles, cut off the ears, branded the foreheads 
of, and banished, imprisoned, and hanged more 
quakers, baptists, adamites, ranters, episcopalians, 
for what they call heresy, blasphemy, and witch- 
craft, than there are instances of persecution in 
Fox's book of Martyrology, or under the bishops 
of England since the death of Henry VIII. And 
yet Mr. Neal was afraid of spiritual courts, and 
admired the practice of the New England church- 
es, who only excommunicate offenders, delivering 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICLT. 125 

them over to the civil magistrate to torture and 
ruin. If I remember right, I once saw the inqui- 
sition of Portugal act after the same manner, 
when the priest said, " We deal with the soul, 
and the civil magistrate with the body." 

Time not having destroyed the walls of the 
fort at Saybrook, Mr. Whitefield, in 1740, at- 
tempted to bring them down, as Joshua brought 
down those of Jericho, to convince the gaping 
multitude of his divine mission. He walked se- 
ven times round the fort with prayer and rams- 
horns blowing — h.c called on the angel of Joshua 
to come and do as he had done at the walls of 
Jericho; but the angel was deaf, or on a journey, 
or asleep; and therefore the walls remained. 
Hereupon George cried aloud, " This town is ac- 
cursed for not receiving the messenger of the 
Lord; therefore the angel is departed, and the 
walls shall stand as a monument of a sinful peo- 
j)le." He shook off the dust of his feet against 
them, and departed, and went to Lyme. 

Killingsworth is ten miles west from Saybrook. 
lies on the sea, and resembles Wandsworth. The 
township is eight miles square, and divided into 
two parishes. This town is noted for the resi- 
dence of the Rev. Mr. Elliot, commonly called 
Dr. Elliot, who discovered the art of making 
steel out of sand, and wrote a book on husbandry, 
which will secure him a place in the Temple of 
Fame. 

II* 



X26 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

Windham, the second county in the ancient 
kingdom of Sassacus, or colony of Saybrook, is 
hilly; but, the soil being rich, has excellent but- 
ter, cheese, hemp, wheat, Indian corn, and horses. 
Its towns are twelve. 

Windham resembles Rumford, and stands on 
Winnomantic river. Its meeting-house is ele- 
gant, and has a steeple, bell, and clock. Its 
court-house is scarcely to be looked upon as an 
ornament. The township forms four parishes, 
and is ten miles square. 

Strangers are very much terrified at the hide- 
oiis noise made on summer evenings by the vast 
number of frogs in the brooks and ponds. There 
are about thirty different voices among them; 
some of which resemble the bellowing of a bull. 
The owls and whi})poorvvilIs complete the rough 
concert, which may be heard several miles. Per- 
sons accustomed to such serenades are not dis- 
turbed by them at their proper stations ; but one 
night, in July, 1758, the frogs of an artificial pond, 
three miles square, and about five from Windham, 
finding the water dried up, left the place in a 
body, and marched, or rather hopped, towards 
Winnomantic river. They were under the ne- 
cessity of taking the road and going through the. 
town, which they entered about midnight. The 
bull frogs were the leaders, and the pipers fol- 
lowed without number. They filled a road 40 
yards wide for four miles in length, and were for 



KlSTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 




GENERAL PUTNAM, 

Of Pomfret, attacking a Bear. 
(Page 132.) 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICITT. 127 

several hours in passing tlirough the town, unusu- 
ally clamorous. The inhabitants were equally 
perplexed and frightened : some expected to find 
an army of French and Indians; others feared an 
earthquake, and dissolution of nature. The con- 
sternation was universal. Old and young, male 
and female, fled naked from their beds with worse 
shriekings than those of the frogs. The event 
was fatal to several women. The men, after a 
flight of half a mile, in which they met with many 
broken shins, finding no enemies in pursuit of 
them, made a halt, and summoned resolution 
enough to venture back to their wives and chil- 
dren ; when they distinctly heard from the ene- 
my's camp these words, fVight, HUderke i, Bier, 
Tete. This last they thought meant treaty ; and 
plucking up courago, they sent a triumvirate to 
capitulate with the supposed French and Indians* 
These three men approached in their shirts, and 
begged to speak with the General ; but it being 
dark, and no answer given, they were sorely agi- 
tated for some time betwixt hope and fear; at 
length, however, they discovered that the dreaded 
inimical army was an army of thirsty frogs, going 
to the river for a little water. 

Such an incursion was never known before 
nor since ; and yet the people of Windham have 
been ridiculed for their timidity on this occasion.. 
T verily believe an army under the Duke of Marl- 



128 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

borough, would, under like circumstances, have 
acted no better than they did. 

In 1768, the inhabitants on Connecticut river 
were as much alarmed at an army of caterpillers, 
as those of Windham were at the frogs ; and no 
one found reason to jest at their fears. Those 
worms came in one night, and covered the earth 
on both sides of that river, to an extent of three 
miles in front and two in depth. They marched 
with great speed and eat up every thing green 
for the space of one hundred miles, in spite of 
rivers, ditches, fires, and the united efforts of 
1,000 men. They were, in general, two inches 
long, had white bodies covered with thorns, and 
red throats. When they had finished their work, 
they went down to the river Connecticut, v/here 
they died, poisoning the waters until they were 
washed into the sea. This calamity was imputed 
by some to the vast number of trees and logs lying- 
in the creeks, and to the cinders, smoke, and fires 
made to consume the waste wood, for tnree or four 
hundred miles up the Connecticut ; while others 
thoui^ht it augurated future evils similar to those 
in Egypt. The inhabitants of the Verdmonts 
would unavoidably have perished by famine in 
consequence of the devastation of these worms, 
had not a remarkable providence filled the wil- 
derness with wild pigeons, which were killed 
by sticks as they sat on the branches of trees in 
such multitudes, that 30,000 people lived on 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 129 

them for three weeks. If a natural cause may 
be assigned for the coming of the frogs and cat- 
erpillars, yet the visit of the pigeons to a wilder- 
ness in August has been necessarily ascribed to 
an interposition of infinite power and goodness. 
Happy will it be for America, if the smiling 
providence of Heaven produces gratitude, repen- 
tance and obedience amongst her cliildren ! 

Lebanon lies on the west side of Winnomantic 
river. Its best street, which has good houses on 
both sides, is one mile long, and one hundred 
yards wide. An elegant meeting, with a steeple 
and bell stands in the centre. The township is 
ten miles square, and forms four parishes. This 
town was formerly famous for an Indian school 
under the conduct of the Reverend Dr. Eleazer 
Wheelock, whose great zeal for the spiritual good 
of the savages in the wilderness induced him to 
solicit a collection through England. Having 
met with success, his school at Lebanon became 
a college in the Province of New- Hampshire ; 
where he lias converted his godliness into gain, 
and promises fair to excuse Government from the 
expense of a superintendent of Indian affairs. 

Coventry lies on the same river: the houses 
are straggling. The township is ten miles square, 
and consists of two parishes. Here are two 
ponds, the one three, the other four miles iong> 
and half as wide, well filled with mackerel and 
other fish. 



130 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

Mansfield lies east of Coventry, on Winnoman- 
tic and Fundy rivers : the houses are scattered. 
The township is eight miles square, and divided 
into two parishes. 

Union and fVilmington lie on Winnomantic 
river, forming two parishes. Each township is 
six miles s(juare. 

Ashford lies on the river Fundy, in a township 
ten miles square, and forming three parishes. 
The people of the town have distinguished them- 
selves by a strict enforcement of the colony laws 
against heretics and episcopalians, for not attend- 
ing their meetings on the Sabbath. 

Woodstockhes on Q,uinnebaug, and resembles 
Finchley. The township is ten miles square, 
and divided into three parishes. Woodstock had 
the honor to give birth to the Rev. Thomas Brad- 
bury Chandler, D. D. a learned Divine of the 
Church of England, and well known in the litera- 
ry world. 

Killingsley lies cast of Woodstock. The 
township, twenty miles long, and six wide, forms 
three parishes. 

Pomfret stands on Quinnebaug river, and re- 
sembles Battersea. The township is twelve miles 
square, and forms four parishes, one of which is 
episcopal. Fanaticism had always prevailed in 
the county of Windham over christian modera- 
tion ; when, about the year 1770, after many abu- 
ses, the episcopalians found a friend in God free 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUt. 131 

Malebone, Esq. who built on his own estate an 
elegant church, which was patronised by the So- 
ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel in foreign 
parts, who appointed a clergyman. 

We read that David slew a lion and a bear, and 
afterwards that Saul trusted hhn to fight Goliath, 
[n Pomfret lives Col. Israel Putnam, who slew a 
she-bear and her two cubs with a bdlet of wood. 
The bravery of this action brought him into pub- 
lic notice : and, it seems, he is one of Fortune's 
favorites. The story is as follows : — In 1754, a 
large she-bear came in the night from her den, 
which was three mile? from Mr. Putnam's house^ 
and took a sow out of a pen of his. The sow, by 
her squeaking, awoke Mr. Putnam, who hastily 
ran to the poor creature's relief; but before he 
could reach the pen^ the bear had left it, and was 
trotting away with the sow in her mouth. Mr. 
Putnam took up a billet of wood, and followed 
the screamings of the sow, till he came to the 
foot of the mountain, where the den wa i. Daunt- 
less he entered the horrid cavern ; and, after 
walking and crawling upon his hands and knees 
for fifty yarris, came to a roomy eel!, wherf^ the 
bear met him with great fury. He saw nothing 
but the fire of her eyes ; but that was sufficient 
for our hero: he accordingly directed his blow, 
which at once prov<-d fat.d to the bear and saved 
his own life at a mosJ critical moment. I'ut- 
nam then discovered and killed two cubs ; and 



13^ HISTORY OF CONNECtlCL'T. 

having, though in Egyptian darkness, dragged 
them and the dead sow, one by one, out of the 
cave, hp went home, and calmly reported to his 
family what had happened. The neighbors de- 
clared, on viewing the place by torch-light, that 
his exploit exceeded those of Sampson or David. 
Soon afterwards the General Assembly appointed 
Mr. Putnam a Lieutenant in the army marching 
against Canada. His courage and good con- 
duct raised him to the rank of Captain the next 
year. The third year he was made a Major ; and 
the fourth a Colonel. Putnam and Rogers were 
the heroes through the last war. Putnam was so 
hardy, at a time when the Indians had killed all 
his men, and completely hem.Dtd him in upon a 
river, as to leap into a stream, which in a minute 
carried him down a stupendous fall, where no tree 
could pass without being torn in pieces. The 
Indians reasonably concluded that Putnam, their 
terrible enemy was dead, and made their report 
accordingly at Ticonderoga ; but soon after, a 
scouting party, found their sad mistake in a 
bloody rencontre. Some few that got off de- 
clared that Putnam was yet living, and that he 
was the first son of Hobbamockow, and therefore 
immortal. However, at length, the Indians took 
this terrible warrior prisoner, and tied him to a 
tree ; where he hung three days wi^thout food or 
drink. They did not attempt to kill him for fear 
of offending Hobbamockow ; but they sold him 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT 




GENERAL PUTNAM, 

Of Pomfret, attacking a Bear. 
(Page 132.) 



MlBTORt OF CONNECTICUT. 133 

to the French at a great price. The name of 
Putnam was more alarming to the Indians than 
cannon, and they never would fight him after his 
escape from the falls. lie was afterwards re- 
deemed by the English. 

Plainfield and Canterbury lie on Quinibaug 
river opposite to one another, and have much the 
appearance of Levvisham. Each township is 
eight miles square, and forms two parishes. 

Voluntown lies on a small river, and resembles 
Finchley Common. The township is fifteen miles 
long, and five wide, and forms three parishes, one 
of which is Presbyterian. This sect has met with 
as little christian charity and humanity ij- this 
hair-brain'd country as the Anabaptists, Quakers, 
and Churchmen. The Sober Dissenters, of this 
town, as they style themselves, will not attend the 
funeral of a Presbyterian. 

The Kingdom of Connecticote forms two 
counties, viz. Hertford and Litchfield, which con- 
tain about 15,000 houses, and 120,000 inhabi- 
tants. 

The county of Hertford excels the rest in to- 
bacco, onions, grain of all sorts, hay, and cider. 
It contains twenty-one towns, the chief of which 
I shall describe, comparing the rest to towns near 
London. 

Hertford town is deemed the capital of the 
province : it stands 40 miles from Saybrook, and 
the same distance fr^m New-Haven, on the west 

12 



134 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

bank of Connecticut river, and is formed int® 
squares. The township is twenty miles from east 
to west, and six in breadth, comprising six parish- 
es, one of which is episcopal. 

The houses are partly of brick and partly of 
wood, well built, but, as I have observed in ge- 
neral of the towns in Connecticut, do not join. 
King's -street is two miles long, and thirty yards 
wide ; well paved, and cut in two by a small ri- 
ver, over which is a high bridge. The town is 
half a mile wide. A grand courthouse, and two 
elegant meetings, with steeples, bells, and clocks, 
adorn it. In 1760, a foundation of quarry stoiio 
was laid for an episcopal church in this town, at the 
expense of near oOOZ. on which occasion the epis- 
copalians had a mortifying proof that the present 
inhabitants inherit the spirit of their ancestors. 
Samuel Talcott, Esq. one of the judges of the 
County Court, with the assistance of a mob, took 
away the stones, and with them built a house for 
his son. What added to so meritorious an ac- 
tion was, its being justified by the General As- 
sembly and the (/onsociation. 

In 1652, this town had the honor of executing 
Mrs. Greensmith, the first witch ever heard of in 
America. She was accused in the indictment of 
practising evil things on the body of Ann Cole, 
which did not appear to be true ; but the Rev. Mr. 
Stone, and other ministers, swore that Greensmith 
had confessed to them that the devil had had car- 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 135 

nal knowledge of her. The court then ordered 
her to be hanged upon the indictment. Surely 
none of those learned divines and statesmen 
studied in the Temple or Lincoln's Inn ! — It 
should seem that every dominion or township was 
possessed of an ambition to make itself famous in 
history. The same year, Springfield, not to be 
outdone by Hertford, brought Hugh Parsons to 
trial for witchcraft, and the jury found him guilty : 
but Mr. Pincheon, the judge, had some under- 
standing, and prevented his execution till the mat- 
ter was laid before the General Court at Boston, 
who determined that he was not guilty of witch- 
craft. The truth was. Parsons was blessed with 
a fine person and genteel address, insomuch that 
the women could not help admiring him above 
every other man in Springfield, and the men 
could not help hating him : — so that there were 
witnesses enough to swear that Parsons was a 
wizzard, — because he made females love and 
males hate him. 

In Hertford are the following curiosities: 1. 
A house built of American oak in 1640, the tim- 
bers of which are yet sound, nay almost petrified : 
in it was born Jonathan Belcher, Esq. Governor 
of Massachusetts-Bay and New-Jersey. 2. An 
elm esteemed sacred for beinij the tree in which 
their charter was concealed. 3. A wonderful 
well, which was dug sixty feet deep witdout any 
appearance of water, when a large rock was met 



ie6 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

with. The miners boring this rock, in order to 
blast it with powder, drove the auger through it, 
upon which the water spouted up with such great 
velocity, that it was with difficulty the well was 
stoned. It soon filled and ran over, and has sup- 
ported, or rather made, a brook for above one 
hundred years. 

The tomb of Mr. Hooker is viewed with great 
reverence by his disciples. Nathaniel, his great 
grandson, a minister in Hertford, inherits more, 
than all his virtues, without any of his vices. 

Weather sjield is four miles from Hertford, and 
more compact than any town in the colony. The 
meeting-house is of brick, with a steeple, bell, 
and clock. The inhabitants say it is much larger 
than Solonion's Temple. The township ten miles 
s(]|uare ; parishes four. The people are more gay 
than polite, and more superstitious than religious. 

This town raises more onions than are con- 
sumed in all New-England. It is a rule with pa- 
rents to buy annually a silk gown for each daugh- 
ter above seven years old, till she is married. 
The young beauty is obliged in return, to weed 
a patch of onions with her own hands ; which she 
performs in the cool of the morning, before she 
dresses for her breakfast. This laudable and 
healthy custom is ridiculed by the ladies in other 
towns, who idle away their mornings in bed, or 
in gathering the pink, or catching the butterfly, 
to ornament their toilets ; while the £^entlemer\ 



HISTORY OF roWI^CTlCl'T. 




PIELD or ONIONS AT WETHERSFIELD. 

(Page 136.1 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 137 

far and near, forget not the Weathersfield ladies' 
silken industry. 

Weathersfield was settled in 1637, by the Rev. 
Mr. Smith and his followers, who left Watertown, 
near Boston, in order to get out of the power of 
Mr. Cotton, whose severity in New-England ex- 
ceeded that of the bishops in Old-England. But 
Mr. Smith did not discard the spirit of persecu- 
tion as the sole property of Mr. Cotton, but car- 
ried with him a sufficient quantity of it to distress 
and divide his little flock. 

Middletown is ten miles below Weathersfield, 
and beautifully situated upon the Connecticut, 
between two small rivers, one mile asunder, 
which is the length of the town and grand street. 
Here are an elegant church, with a steeple, bell, 
clock, and organ ; and a large meeting without a 
steeple. The people are polite, and not much 
troubled with that fanatic zeal which pervades 
the rest of the colony. The township is ten 
miles square, and forms four parishes, one episco- 
pal. This and the two preceding towns may be 
compared to Chelsea. 

The following towns, which lie on Connecticut 
river, are so much alike, that a description of onb 
will serve for the whole ; viz. Windsor^ East- 
Windsor, Glastenhury^ Endjield, Nuffield, Chat- 
ham^ Haddam, and East-Haddam. Windsor, 

the best, is cut in two by the river Ett, which 
wanders from the northward 100 miles through 

12* 



138 HISTORY OF CONNECTICbT. 

various meadows, towns, and villages, and re- 
sembles Bedford. Township ten miles square, 
forming three parishes. It was settled in 1637, 
by the Rev. Mr. Huet and his associates, who fled 
from religious slavery in Boston to enjoy the pow- 
er of depriving others of liberty. 

The following towns, lying back of the river 
towns, being similar in most respects, I shall join 
also in one class; viz. Hebron, Colchester, Bol- 
ton, Tolland, Stafford, and Sommers. 

Hebron is the centre of the province ; and it is 
remarkable that there are thirty-six towns larger, 
and thirty-six less. It is situated between two 
ponds, about two miles in length, and one in 
breadth ; and is intersected by two small rivers, 
one of which falls into the Connecticut, the other 
into the Thames. A large meeting stands on a 
square, where four roads meet. The town re- 
sembles Finchley. The township eight miles 
square ; five parishes, one is episcopal. The 
number of houses is 400 ; of the inhabitants, 
3,200. It pays one part out of seventy- three of 
all governmental taxes ; and is a bed of farmers 
on their own estates. Frequent suits about the 
Indian titles have rendered them famous for their 
knowledge in law and self-preservation. In 1740, 
Mr. George Whitefield gave them this laconic 
character. " Hebron," says he, " is the strong 
hold of Satan ; for its people mightily oppose 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 139 

the work of the Lord, being more fond of earth 
than of heaven." 

This town is honored by the residence of the 
Rev. Dr. Benjamin Pomeroy ; an excellent scho- 
lar, an exemplary gentleman, and a mist thun- 
dering preacher of the new-light order. His 
great abilities procured him the favor and honor 
of being the instructor of Abimeleck, the pre- 
sent King of Mohegin. He is of a very perse- 
vering, sovereign disposition; but just, polite, 
generous, charitable, and without dissimulation. 
— ^vis alba. 

Here also reside some of the descendants of 
William Peters, Esq. already spoken of; among 
whom is the Rev. Samuel P«?ters,^ an episco- 
pal clergyman, who, by his generosity and zeal 
for the Church of England, and loyalty to the 
House of Hanover, has rendered himself famous 
both in New and Old England, and in some de- 
gree made an atonement for the fanaticism and 
treasons of his uncle Hugh, and of his ancestor 
on his mother's side. Major-general Thomas Har- 
rison, both hanged at Charing-Cross in the last 
century. 

Colchester has to boast of the Rev. John Buck- 
ley for its first minister, whose grandfather was 
the Rev. Peter Buckley, of Woodhill, in Bedford- 
shire, in Old-England ; who, after being silenced 

* Supplement, Note Y. ^ 



140 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

by the Bishop for his misconduct, went to New- 
England in 1635, and died at Concord in 1658. — 
John Buckley was a great scholar: and, suffering 
prudence to govern his hard temper, he concili- 
ated the esteem of all parties, and became the or- 
nament of the Sobei' Dissenters in Connecticut. 
He was a lawyer, a physician, and a divine. He 
published an ingenious pamphlet to prove that 
the title of the people to their lands was good, 
because they had taken them out of the state of 
nature. His argument satisfied many who thought 
their titles were neither legal, just, nor scriptural: 
indeed, it may seem conclusive, if his major pro- 
position be granted, That the English found Con- 
necticut in a state of nature. His son John was 
a lawyer and physician of great reputation, and 
was appointed a judge of the superior court very 
young. He and his father were suspected to be 
not sound in the faith, because they used in their 
prayers. From battle and murder, and from sud- 
den death, good Lord deliver us, for the sake of 
thine only Son, who commands us thus to pray, 
Our Father, ^-c. ^^c. Peter Buckley was pos- 
sessed of a gentleman's estate in Bedfordshire, 
which he sold, and spept the produce among his 
servants in Massachusetts-Bay. His posterity in 
Colchester, in Connecticut, are very rich, and, till 
lately, were held in great esteem ; which, how- 
ever, they lost, by conforming to the Church of 
England. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. HJ 

There is nothing remarkable to be observed of 
any of the other towns I have classed with He- 
bron, except Stafford, which possesses a mineral 
spring that has the reputation of curing the gout^ 
sterility, pulmony, hysterics, &c. &c. and there- 
fore is the New-England Bath, where the sick and 
rich resort to prolong life, and acquire the polite 
accomplishments. 

Herrington, Farmington, and Symsbury, lying 
west from Hertford, and on the river Ett, will 
finish the county of Hertford. 

Herrington is ten miles square, and forms two 
parishes. 

Farmington resembles Cory don. The town- 
ship is fifteen miles square, and forms eight pa- 
tishes, three of wliich 5re episcopal. Kere the 
meadow land is sold at fifty pounds sterling per 
acre. 

Simshury^ with its meadows and surrounding 
liills, forms a beautiful landscape, much like 
Maidstone in Kent. The township is twenty miles 
square, and consists of nine parishes, four of which 
are episcopal. Here are copper mines. In 
working one many years ago, the miners bored 
half a mile through a mountain, making large 
cells forty yards below the surface, which now 
serve as a prison, by order of the General As- 
sembly, for such oftenders as they choose not to 
hang. The prisoners are let down on a windlass 
into this dismal cavern, through a hole, which 



142 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

answers the triple purpose of conveying them 

food, air, and 1 was going to say light, but it 

scarcely reaches them. In a few months the pri- 
soners are released by death and the colony re- 
joices in her great humanity, and the mildness of 
her laws. This conclave of spirits imprisoned 
may be called, with great propriety, the cata- 
comb of Connecticut. The light of the Sun and 
the light of the Gospel are alike shut out from 
the martyrs, whose resurrection-state will eclipse 
the wonder of that of Lazarus. It has been re- 
marked by the candid part of this religious colo- 
ny, that the General Assembly and the Consocia- 
tion have never allowed any prisoners in the 
whole province a chaplain, though they have 
spent much of their time and the public money 
in spreading the gospel in the neighboring colo- 
nies among the Indians, quakers, and episcopa- 
lians, and though, at the same time, those reli- 
gionists preach damnation to all people who 
neglect to attend public worship twice every Sab- 
bath, fasting and thanksgiving day, provided they 
are appointed by themselves, and not by the 
King and Parliament of Great Britain. This well 
founded remark has been treated by the zealots 
as springing more from malice than policy. 

I heir leave to give the following instances of 
the humanity and vnildness the province has al- 
wayij mai:«lested for the episcopal clergy. 

About 1746, the Rev. Mr. Gibbs, of Symsbury, 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 143 

refusing to pay a rate imposed for the salary of 
Mr Mills, a dissenting minister in the same town, 
was, by the collector, thrown across a horse, lash- 
ed hands and feet under the creature's bellyj and 
carried many miles in that humane manner to 
gaol. Mr. Gibbs was half dead when he got 
there ; and, though he was released by his church 
wardens, who, to save his life, paid the assess- 
ment, yet, having taken cold in addition to his 
bruises, he became delirious, and has remained in 
a state of insanity ever since. 

In 1772, the Rev. Mr. Mozley, a missionary 
from the Society for the Propagation of the Gos- 
pel, at Litchfield, was presented by the grand 
jury for marrying a couple belonging to his pa- 
rish after the banns were duly published, and con- 
sent of parents obtained. The Court mildly 
fined Mr. Mozley 20/. because he could not shew 
any other license to officiate as a clergyman, than 
what he had received from the Bishop of London, 
whose authority the Court determined did not ex- 
tend to Connecticut, which was a chartered go- 
vernment. One of the Judges said, " It is high 
time to put a stop to the usurpations of the Bi- 
shop of London, and to let him know, that though 
his license be lawful, and may empower one of 
his curates to marry in England, yet it is not so 
in America ; and if fines would not curb them in 
this point, imprisonment should." 

The second county in the kingdom of Connec- 



144 IIISTOHY OF CONNECTICUT. 

ticote, and the most mountainous in the whole 
province, is Litchfield : which produces abun- 
dance of wheat, butter, cheese, iron ore, &c» 
and has many iron works, foundcries, and furna- 
ces. It contains the following fourteen towns. 

Litchfield is watered by two small rivers. An 
ele/oant meeting, and a decent court-house, with 
steeples and bells, ornament the square, where 
three roads meet. The best street is one mile 
long. It resembles Dartford. The township is 
twelve miles square, and forms five parishes, one of 
which is episcopal. 

Though Litchfield is the youngest county of 
Connecticut, yet, in ITG6, it set an example to the 
rest worthy of imitation. The province had al- 
ways been greatly pestered by a generation of 
men called quacks, who, with a few Indian nos- 
trums, a lancet, a glister-pipe, rhubarb, treacle- 
water mixed with Roman bombast of ve7ia cava 
and vena porta attacked fevers, nervous disor- 
ders, and broken bones, and, by the grace of per- 
severance, subdued nature, and helped their pa- 
tients to a passage to the world of spirits before 
they were ready. The surgeons and physicians, 
who were not quacks, formed themselves into a 
society, for the encouragement of literature and 
a regular and wholesome practice. But their 
laudable endeavors were discountenanced by the 
General Assembly, who refused to comply with 
their solicitation for a charter; because the 



HISTOKY ov coNNEexicu'r. 145 

vjuacks and the people said, " If the charter were 
granted, the learned men would become too ticli 
by a monopoly, as tiiey had in England." The 
answer to this objection was, " Would it not be 
better to permit a monopoly to preserve the health 
and lives of the peojde, than to suffer quacks to 
kill them and ruin the province?" The reply 
proved decisive in that fanatical assembly, viz. 
" No medicine can be serviceable without the 
blessing of God. The quacks never administer 
any physic before the minister has prayed for a 
blessing ; whereas the learned doctors say, that 
the blessing is in their physic, without the pray- 
ers of ministers." One doctor proposed the trial 
of a dose of arsenic; whether it would not kill 
any one who would take it, though twenty minis- 
ters should pray against it. He was called a 
profane man — the petition was rejected — and 
quackery remains triumphant. 

JVew-Milford lies on Osootonoc river. A 
church and meeting, with steeples and bells, 
beautify the town, which resembles Fulham. 
The township, twelve miles square, forms five pa- 
rishes, of which two are episcopal. 

WoQfJhury lies on the same river, and resem- 
bles Kentish-Town. The townsijip, twelve miles 
square, is divided into seven parishes, three of 
them episcopal. 

In this town lives the Rev. Dr Bellamy, who 
is a good scholar and a great preacher. He has 

13 



146 IHISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

attempted to shew a more excellent way to hea- 
ven than was known before. He may be called 
the Jithcnian of Connecticut ; for he has publish- 
ed somelhing new to the christian world — Zuin- 
glius may learn of him. 

The followmg towns lie also on the Osooto- 
noc, viz. Sharon, Kent, Salisbury, Aew-Fair- 
ficld, Cornwall Goshm, and Cannan; and all of 
thi m resemble Finchley. Each township is ten 
miles square. 

Sharon forms three parishes, one of which is 
episcopal. It is much noted on account of a fa- 
mous mill, invented and built by Mr. Joel Har- 
vey, upon his own estate ; for which he received 
a compliment of 2t/. from the Society of Arts in 
London. The water, by turning one wheel, sets 
the whole in motion. In two apartments wheat is 
£jround ; in two others, bolted ; in another thresh- 
ed ; in a sixth winnowed : in the seventh, hemp 
and flax are beaten, and in the eighth dressed. 
Either branch is discontinued at pleasure, with- 
out impedijig the rest. 

The other towns in Litchfield county are, JVew- 
Rertford, Torrington, Ifartland, and fl inchester, 
all which lie on the river Ett. The town- 
ships are severally about six miles square, and 
each forms one parish. 

The Kingdom of Quinnitiog constitutes the 
Dominion of New-Haven, divided into two coun- 
t.es, viz. New-Haven and Fairfield.; these again 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 147 

divided into 17 townships, about 12 miles square 
each. The number of houses is nearly 10,000, 
and that of the inhabitants 60,000. 

The county of New-Haven is hilly, and has a 
thin soil, enriched, however, by the industry of 
its inhabitants. The chief commodities are, flax, 
rye, barley, white beans, and salt-hay. It con- 
tains eight towns ; four of which lie on the Sound, 
and the other on the back of them. 

JS^ew-Haven township comprizes fourteen pa- 
rishes ; three of thefn episcopal, and one San- 
demanian. Tlie town, being the most beauti- 
ful in New-England, if not in all America, is en- 
titled to a minute description. It is bounded 
southerly by the bay into which the river Quinni- 
piack empties itself; easterly and westerly, by 
two creeks two miles asunder ; and, northerly, by 
a lofty mountain, that extends even to the river 
St. Lawrence, and forms a highland between the 
rivers Hudson and Connecticote ; standing in a 
plain three miles by two in extent. This plain is 
divided into 300 squares, of the size of Blooms- 
bury-square, with streets 20 yards wide between 
each division. Forty of these squares are al- 
ready built upon, having houses of brick and 
wood on eacl) iront, aboiit five yards asunder : 
every house vviih a garden tliat provinces vegeta- 
bles suffic-ent f>r the famsly. Two hundred 
houses are annually erected. Ehiis and button- 
trees surround the centre square, wherein are two 



1.48 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

meetings, the court-house, the jail, and Latin. 
school; — in the fronts of the adjoining squares, 
are, Yale College, the chapel, a meeting, and a 
church ; — all these grand buildings, with steeples 
and bells. The market is plentifully supplied 
with every necessary during the whole year, ex- 
cepting greens in winter. But the harbor is in- 
commoded by flats near the town, of one mile in 
width, and by ice in winter. The former evil is,^ 
hi some measure remedied hy long and expensive 
wharves ; but the latter is incurable. The peo- 
ple, however, say their trade is greater than that 
of Norwicii or New-London; and their shipping, 
of different burthens, consists of near 200 sail. 

According to Dr. Mather, New-Haven was, 
about 1040, t^ have been made a city, the in- 
terests of the colony with Cromwell's party being 
then very great ; but a wonderful phenomenon 
prevented it. As the good Dr. Mather never 
wanted faith through the whole course of his 
Magnalia, and as the New-Englanders, to the 
present time, believe his reports, I will here pre- 
sent my readers with the history of this miracle: 

" The people of New-Haven fitted out a ship, 
and sent her richly laden for England, to procure 
a patent for the colony, and a charter for the 
city.^ — After the ship had been at sea some weeks, 
there happened in New-England a violent storm, 
which induced the people of New-Haven to ftist 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 149 

and pray, lo inquire of the Lord whether their 
ship was in that storm, or not. This was a real 
fast; for the people neither eat nor drank from 
sun-rise till sun-set. At five o'clock in the after- 
noon, they came out of meetings walking softly, 
heavily, and sadly, homewards. On a sudden 
the air thundered, and the lightnings shone 
abroad. They looked up towards the heavens, 
when they beheld their ship under full sail, and 
the sailors steering her from west to east. She 
came over the meeting where they had fasted and 
prayed, and then was met by an euroclydon, 
which rent the sails, and overset the ship — in a 
few moments she fell down near the weather-cock 
on the steeple, and instantly vanished. The peo- 
ple all returned to the meeting, where the minis- 
ter gave thanks to God, for answering the desires 
of his servants, and for giving them an infallible 
token of the loss of their ship and charter." 

This, and divers other miracles which have 
happened in New-England, have been, and still 
are, useful to the clergy m establishing the peo- 
ple in the belief that there is a great familiarity 
between God and their ministers. Hence the 
ministers govern the superstitious ; whilst the 
deacon, the lawyer, and the merchant, for lucre^ 
wink at the imposition — yet the ministers in their 
turn are governed by their abettors. 

^ Thou genius of adventure ! that carri- 






150 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT, 

edst Columbus from eastern to the western shores, 
the domain of savage beasts and savage men. now 
cursed with the demons of superstition and fana- 
ticism, oh ! kindle in no other breast the wish to 
seek new worlds : — Africa already mourns, and 

Europe trembles ! 

The true character of Davenport and Eaton, 
the leaders of the first settlers of New-Haven, 
may be learnt from the following fact : — An Eng- 
lish gentleman, of the name of Grigson, coming, 
on his travels, to New-Haven, about the year 
1644, was greatly pleased with its pleasant situa- 
tion ; and, after purchasing a large settlement, 
sent to London for his wife and family. But before 
their arrival, he found that a charming situation, 
without the blessing of religious and civil liberty, 
would not render him and his family happy : he 
resolved, therefore, to quit the country, and re- 
turn to England, as soon as his family should ar- 
rive, and accordingly advertised his property for 
sale ; when lo ! agreeable to one of the Blue 
Laws, no one would buy, because he had not, 
and could not obtain liberty of the selectmen to 
sell it. The patriotic virtue of the selectmen 
thus becoming an insurmountable bar to the sale 
of his New-Haven estate, Mr. Grigson made his 
will, and bequeathed part of his lands towards the 
support of an episcopal clergyman, who should 
reside in that town, and the residue to his own 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 151 

heirs. Having deposited his will in the hands of 
a friend, he set sail, with his family, for England, 
but died on his passage. This friend proved the 
will, and had it recorded, but died also soon 
after. The record was dexterously concealed by 
glueing two leaves together; and, after sonne 
years, the select men sold the whole estate to 
pay taxes, though the rent of Mr. Grigson's house 
alone in one year would pay the taxes for ten. 
Some persons, hardy enough to exclaim against 
this glaring injustice, were soon silenced, and ex- 
pelled the town. In 1750, an episcopal clergy- 
man was settled in New-Haven ; and, having 
been informed of Grigson's will, applied to the 
town clerk for a copy, who told him there was no 
such w^ill on record, and withal refused him the 
liberty of searching. In 1768, Peter Harrison, 
Esq. from Nottinghamshire, in England, the 
King's collector of New-Haven, claimed his right 
of searching public records ; and being a stranger, 
and not supposed to have any knowledge of 
Grigson's will, obtained his demand. The alpha- 
bet contained Grigson's name, and referred to a 
page which was not to be found in the book. 
Mr. Harrison supposed it to have been torn out ; 
but, on a closer examination, discovered one leaf 
much thicker than the others. He put a corner of 
the thick leaf in his mouth, and soon found it was 
composed of two leaves, which with much diffi- 
culty having separated, he found Grigson's will ! 



152 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

To make sure of the work, he took a copy of it 
himself, and then called the clerk to draw and at- 
test another; which was done. Thus furnished, 
Mr. Harrison instantly applied to the selectmen, 
and demanded a surrender of the land which be- 
longed to the church, but which they as prompt- 
ly refused ; whereupon Mr. Harrison took out 
writs of ejectment against the possessors. As 
might be expected, Mr. Harrison, from a good 
man, became, in ten days, the worst man in the 
world ; but, being a generous and brave English- 
man, he valued not their clamors and curses, tliough 
they terrified the gentlemen of the law. Harri- 
son was obliged to be his own lawyer, and boldly 
declared he expected to lose his cause in New- 
England ; but after that he would appeal, and 
try it, at his own expense, in Olcj England, where 
justice reigned. The good people, knowing Har- 
rison did not get his bread by their votes, and 
that they could not bafile him, resigned the lands 
to the church x)n that gentleman's own terms ; 
which in a few years will support a clergyman i-n 
a very genteel manner. The honest selectmen 
yet possess the other lands, though report says 
Mr. Grigson has an heir of his own name, residing 
near Holborn, in London, who inherits the vir- 
tues of his ancestor, and ought to inherit his 
estate. 

The sad and awful discovery of Mr. Grigson^s 
will, after having been concealed above one hun~ 



HISTORY OF CGXNECTICUT. 153 

tired years, would have confounded any people 
but those of New-Haven, who study nothing but 
religion and liberty. Those pious souls consoled 
themselves by comparison : " We are no worse," 
said they, " than the people of Boston and Wind- 
ham county." The following fnct will explaia 
this justification of the saints of Nevv-ilaven. 

In 17^0, Mrs. Currette, an English lady, travel- 
ling from New-York to Boston, was obliged to 
stay some days at Hebron; where, seeing the 
church not finisijod, and the people suffering great 
persecutions, she told them to persevere in their 
good work, and she would send them a present 
when she got to Boston. Soon after her arrival 
there, Mrs. Cursette fell sick and died. In, her 
will she gave a legacy of oOGt. old tenor, (then 
equal to lOOZ. sterling) to the church of England 
in Hebron ; and appointed John Hancock, Esq. 
and Nathaniel Glover, her executors. Glover 
was also her residuary legatee. Tlie will was 
obliged to be recorded in Windham county, be- 
cause some of Mrs. Cursette's lands lay there. 

Glover sent the will by Deacon S. H , of 

Canterbury, ordering him to get it recorded, and 
keep it private, lest the legacy should build up 
the church. The Deacon and Register were 
fait:iful lo their trustj and kept Glover's secret 
twenty 'five y ems At length the Deacon was ta- 
ken ill, and his life was supposed in great danger. 
Among his penitential confessions, he told of his. 



154 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

V 

having concealed Mrs. Cursette's will. His con- 
fident went to Hebron, and informed the wardens, 
that for one guinea he would discover a secret of 
SOOl. old tenor consequence to the Church. 1 he 
guinea was paid and the secret disclosed. A de- 
mand of the legacy ensued. Mr. Hancock re- 
ferred to Glover, and Glover said he was neither 
obliged to publish the will, nor pay the legacy: 
it had lapsed to the heir at law. It being difficult 
for a Connecticut man to recover a debt in the 
Massachusetts-Bay, and vice versa, the wardens 
were obliged to accept from Mr. Glover 301. in- 
stead of 30C/. sterling; which sum, allowing 200/. 
as lawful simple interest at six per cent, for 
twenty-five years, ought in equity to have been 
paid. This matter, however, Mr. Glover is to 
settle with Mrs. Cursette in the other world. 

New-Haven is celebrated for having given the 
name of pumpkin-heads to all the New-Engl a nd- 
ers. It originated from the Blue Laws, which 
enjoin every male to have his hair cut round bj 
a cap. When caps were not to be had, they sub- 
stituted the hard shell of a pumpkin, which being 
put on the head every Saturday, the hair is cut by 
the shell all round the head. Whatever religious 
virtue is supposed to be derived from this custom, 
I know not; but there is much prudence in it: 
first, it prevents the hair from snarling; — second- 
ly, it saves the use of combs, bags, alid ribbons ; 
-^-thirdly, the hair cannot incommode the eyes by 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 




METHOD OF TUII»IMING HAIR, 

In accordance with the Blue Laws of Connecticut. 
(Page 154.) 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 155 

falling over them ; — and, fourthly, such persons 
as have lost their ears for heresy, and other wick- 
edness, cannot conceal their misfortune and dis- 
grace. 

Cruelty and godliness were, perhaps, never so 
well reconciled by any people, as by those of 
New-Haven, who are alike renowned for both. 
The unhappy story of Deacon Potter has eter- 
nized the infamy of their Blue Laws, and almost 
annexed to their town the name of Sodom. The 
Deacon had borne the best of characters many 
years ; he was the peacemaker, and an enemy to 
persecution ; but he was grown old, was rich, and 
had a young wife. His young wife had an incli- 
nation for a young husband, and had waited with 
impatience for the death of her old one, till at 
length, resolving, if possible, to accelerate the 
attainment of her wishes, she complained to the 
Magistrate, that her husband did not render her 
due benevolence. The judge took no notice of 
what she said. She then swore that her husband 
was an apostate; and that he was fonder of his 
mare, bitch, and cow, than of her : in which alle- 
gation she was joined by her f^on. The Deacon 
was brought to his trial, condemned, executed 
with the beasts, and with them also buried in one 
common grave. Dr. Mather, with his usual 
quantity ol faith, speaks of the Deacon as verily 
guilty, as having had a fair, legal, and candid trial, 
and convicted on good and scriptural evidence. 



156 HJStORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

t am willing to allow the Doctor as much sinceri- 
ty as faith. He had his information from the 
party who condemned the Deacon ; but there are 
manuscripts, which I have seen, thai state the 
matter thus: — Deacon Potter was hanged for 
heresy and apostacy, which consisted in shewing 
hospitality to strangers, who came to his house in 
the night, among whom were Quakers, Anabap- 
tists, and Adamites. This was forbidden by the 
Blue Laws, which punished for the first and se- 
cond offence with lines, and with death for the 
third. His wife and son betrayed him for hiding 
the spies, and sending them away in peace. The 
court was contented with calling his complicated 
crimes beastiality; his v idow, with a new hus- 
band; and the son, with the estate ; while the pub- 
lic were deceived by the arts of a wicked junto. 

I have related this story to shew the danger of 

admitting a wife to give evidence against her 
husband, according to the Blue Laws; and to 
caution all readers against crediting too much the 
historians of New-England, who, either from mo- 
tives of fear or emolument, have, in numberless 
instances, designedly disguised or concealed the 
truth. Such persons, whose stubborn principles 
would not bend to this yoke, were not suiTered to 
search the colonial records; and those who have 
dared to intimate that all was not right among 
the first settlers, have been compelled to leave 



HISTORY OF CONNECTlCUt. lot 

the country with the double loss of character and 
property. 

To New-Haven now belongs Yale College, of 
which I have promised my readers a particular 
account. It was originally, as already mention- 
ed, a school, established by the Rev. Thomas 
Peters, at Saybrook, who left it his library at hi* 
death. It soon acquired the distinguishing ap^ 
pellation of Schola Illustris ; and, about t^OO, 
was honored by the General Assembly with a 
charter of incorporation, converting it into a col- 
lege, under the denomination of Yak College, in 
compliment to a gentleman of that name, gover- 
nor of one of the West-India islands, and its 
greatest benefactor. The charter constitutes a 
president, three tutors, twelve overseers, and a 
treasurer; and exempts it from any visitation of 
the Governor or Assembly, in order to secure it 
against the control of a King's Governor, in case 
one should ever be appointed. I have already 
observed, that a power of conferring Bachelors 
and Master's degrees was granted by the charter; 
and that the corporation have thought proper tj 
assume that of conferring Doctor's degrees. By 
the economical regulations of the College, there 
are, a professor in divinity, mathematics, and natu- 
ral philosophy ; and four classes of students, 
which were at first attended by the president and 
the three tutors; but the president has long been 
excused that laborious task, and a fourth tutor 

14 



158 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

appointed in his stead. Each class has its proper 
tutor. Once a week the president examines them 
all in the public hall, superintends their disputa- 
tions and scientific demonstrations, and, if any 
student appears to be negligent, orders him under 
the care of a special tutor; a stigma which sel- 
dom fails of producing its intended efiect. Greek, 
Latin, Geography, History, and Logic, are well 
tauo"ht in this seminary ; but it suffers for want of 
tutors to teach the Hebrew, French, and Spanish 
languages. Oratory, music, and politeness, are 
equally neglected here and in the colony. The 
students attend prayers every morning and eve- 
ning, at six o'clock. The president, professor, 
or one of the tutors, reads and expounds a chap- 
ter ; then a psalm is sung, after which follows a 
prayer. This finished, each class repairs to its 
tutor. The hours of study are notified by the 
college bell, and every scholar seen out of his 
room is liable to a fine, which is seldom excused. 
The amusements for the evenings are, not cards, 
dancing, or music, but reading and composition. 
They are allowed two hours play with the foot- 
ball every day. Thus cooped up for four years, 
they understand books better than men or man- 
ners. Tiiey then are admitted to their Bachelor's 
degree, having undergone a public examination 
in the arts and sciences. Three years afterwards 
they are admitted to their Master's degree, pro- 
vided they have supported moral characters. 



HISTORV OF CONNECTICUT. 159 

The ceremony used by the president on these oc- 
casions is to deliver a book to the intended Mas- 
ter in Arts, saying, "Adniitto te ad secundum 
Gradum in Artibus, pro more Academiarum in 
Anglia ; tradoque tibi hunc librum, una cum po- 
testate publice prselegendi quotiescunque ad hoc 
munus evocatus fueris." For Bachelors the same, 
mutatis mutandis. A diploma on vellum with 
the seal of the college is given to each Master, 
and signed by the president and six fellows or 
overseers. The first degrees of Masters were 
given in 1702. The students of late years have 
amounted to about ISO. They dine in the com- 
mon-hall at four tables, and the tutors and gradu- 
ates at a fifth. The number of the whole is 
about 200. 

Yale College is built with wood, and painted of 
a sky color; is 160 feet long, and three stories 
high, besides garrets. In 1754, another building, 
of brick, 100 feet long, and also three stories . 
high, exclusive of the garrets, with double rooms, 
and a double front, was added, and called Con- 
necticut Hall. About 1760, a very elegant chap- 
el and library were erected, with brick, under 
one roof. But it cannot be supposed the latter is 
to be compared with the Vatican or the Bodleian, 
It consists of eiglit or ten tfjousand volumes in 
all branches of literature, but wants modern 
books; though thee is a tolerable sufiiciency, if 
the corporation would permit what they call 



160 HISTORY OP CONNECTICUT. 

Bishop's and Arminian books to be read. Ames's 
Medulla is allowed, while Grotius de Veritate 
Religionis is denied. It was lately presented 
with a new and valuable apparatus for experi- 
mental philosophy. The whole library and ap- 
paratus were given by various persons, chiefly 
English. 

The General Assembly have endowed this col- 
lege with large tracts of land, which, duly culti- 
vated, will soon support the ample establishment 
of an University; but, even at present, I may 
truly say, Yale College exceeds in the number, 
and perhaps in the learning, of its scholars, all 
others in British America. 

This seminary was, in 1717, removed from Say- 
brook to New-Haven ; the extraordinary cause 
of which transition, I shalj here lay before the 
reader. 

Saybrook dominion had been settled by Puri- 
tans of some moderation and decency. They 
had not joined with Massachusetts-Bay, Hertford, 
and New-Haven, in sending home agents to as- 
sist in the murder of Charles I. and the subver- 
sion of the Lords and Bishops : — they had receiv- 
ed Hooker's heretics, and sheltered the apostates 
from Davenport's millenarian system : — they had 
shewn an inclination to be dependent on the 
mother country, and had not wholly anathema- 
tized the church of England. In short, the peo- 
ple of Hertford and New-Haven suspected ths^t 



HISTORY or CONNECTICUT. 161 

Saybrook was not truly protestaiit ; that it had a 
passion for the leeks and onio. s of Es;ypt ; and 
thnt the youth belonging to them in the Schola 
Illustris were in great danger of imbibing its 
lukewarmness. A vote, therefore, passed at 
Hertford, to remove the college to Weathersfield, 
where the leeks and onions of Egypt would not 
be thought of; and another at New-Haven, 
that it should be removed to that town, where 
Christ had established his dominion from sea to 
sea, and where he was lo begin his millenariau 
reign. About 1715, Hertford, in order to carry 
its vote into execution, prepared teams, boats, 
and a mob, and privately set off for Saybrook, 
and seized upon tiie college apparatus, library, 
and students, and carried all to Weathersfield. 
This redoubled the jealousy of the saints at New- 
Haven, who thereupon determined to fulfil their 
vote; and, accordingly, having collected a mob 
sufficient for their enterprize, they set out for 
Weathersfield, where they seized by surprise the 
students, library, (fee. &c. But on the road to 
New-Haven they were overtaken by the Hertford 
mob, who, however, after an unhappy battle, 
were obliged to retire with only part of the libra- 
ry and part of the students. Hence sprung two 
colleges out of one. The quarrel increased daily, 
every body expecting a war more bloody than 
that of Sassacus ; and, no doubt, such would have 
been the case, had not the peace-makers of Mas- 

14* 



162 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

sachusetts-Bay interposed with their usual friend- 
ship, and advised their dear friends of Hertford to 
give up the college to New-Haven. This was ac- 
cordingly done in 1717, to the great joy of the 
crafty Massachusetts, who always greedily seek 
their own prosperity, though it ruin their best 
neighbors. The college being thus fixed forty 
miles farther west from Boston than it was before, 
tended greatly to the interest of Harvard College : 
for Saybrook and Hertford, out of pure grief '^ 
sent their sons to Harvard, instead of the college 
at New-Haven. This quarrel continued till 1764, 
when it subsided in a grand continental consocia- 
tion of ministers, which met at New-Haven to 
consult the spiritual good of the Mohawks and 
other Indian tribes, the best method of preserving 
the American vine, and the protestant, indepen- 
dent liberty of America: — a good preparatory to 
rebellion against Great B/itain.f 

The Rev. Mr. Naphthali Daggett is the fourth 
president of Yale i'ollege since its removal to 
New-Haven. He is an excellent Greek and La- 
tin scholar, and reckoned a good Calvinistic di- 
vine. Though a stranger to European politeness, 
yet, possessing a mild temper and affable disposi- 
tion, the exercise of his authority is untinctured 
with haughtiness. Indeed, he seems to have too 

*Pure g-We/* means, in New-England, anger and revenge. 
S Supplement, Note Z. 



HISTORY OF CONfTECTICUT. 163 

Hiuch candor, and too little bigotry, to please 
the corporation, and retain his post, many years. 

The Rev. Mr. Nehemiah Strong, the college 
professor, is also of an amiable temper, and merits 
the appointment. 

Were the corporation less rigid, and more in- 
clined to tolerate some reasonable amusements 
and polite accomplishments among the youth, 
they would greatly add to the fame and increase 
of the college ; and the students would not be 
known by every stranger to have been educated 
in Connecticut. The disadvantage under which 
they at present appear, from the want of address, 
is much to be regretted. 

Branford, Guilford, and Milford, are much 
alike. 

Guilford is laid out in squares, after the man- 
ner of New-Haven, twenty of which are built 
upon. The church and two meetings stand on 
the centre square. One of the meetings is very 
grand, with a steeple, bell, and clock. The pa- 
rishes in it are eight, three of them episcopal. 

This town gave birth to the Reverend Samuel 
Johnson, D. D., who was the first episcopal min- 
ister in Connecticut, and the first president of 
King's College in New-York. He was educated 
and became a tutor in the college at Saybrook; 
was an ornament to his native country, and much 
esteemed for his humanity and learning. 

The Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, in a sermon 



164 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

he preached in the great meeting, gave the cha- 
racter of the people of Guilford in 174u, His 
text was, Anoint mine eyes with eye-salve. Af- 
ter pointing out what was not the true eye-salve, 
he said, "I will tell you what is the true eye- 
salve : — it is faith — it is grace — it is simplicity — 

it is virtue Ah, Lord ! where can they be 

found ? — Perhaps not in this grand assembly." 

I have frequently quoted the Rev. Mr George 
Whitefield, — without that ludicrous intention 
which, possibly, tiie reader may suspect me of. I 
admire his general character, his great dibcern- 
ment, his knowledge of mankind, his piety, his 
goodness of heart, his generosity, and hatred oi 
persecution, though I think his zeal was some- 
times too fervent. I ever viewed him as an in- 
strument of heaven, as the greatest Boanarges and 
blessing America ever knew. He turned the 
profligate to God ; he roused the lukewarm chris- 
tian ; he tamed the wild fanatic, and made T'elix 
tremble. It is true, he has also made wise men 
mad ; but this is tfie natural effect of the word, 
which is t!ie savor of life and the savor of death 
at one and the same time. New-England, before 
his coming, was but the slaughter-house for here- 
tics. He was admired by the oppressed episco- 
palians, the trembling quakers, the bleeding bap- 
tists. &c. &c. He was f(>llowed by all sects and 
parties, except the Sober Dissenters, who thoui-"ht 
their craft in danger. He mdida peace where was 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 165 

no peace', and even his enemies praised him in 
the gate. Whitefield did what could not have 
been done without the aid of an omnipotent arm j 
he planted charity in New-England, of which the 
increase has been a thousand fold. He is landed 
where the wicked cease from troubling; where 
his works of fiaith, love, and charity, clothe him; 
and where the Glory of Eternity blesses him with 
a welcome ineffably transporting. May his vir- 
tues be imitated, his imperfections forgiven, and 
his happiness obtained by all ! 

TVallingford, Durham, Waterbury, and Derby, 
finish the county of New-Haven. — Wallingford 
is the best of the four : it lies on Quinnipiack ri- 
ver, and forms eight parishes, two of which are 
episcopal. The Town-street is one mile long, 
and the houses stand pretty thick on boih sides. 
The church, and two meetings, one with a stee- 
ple, bell, and clock, stand in the middle of the 
street. — The grave stones point out the charac- 
ters of the first settlers. An extract from one 
follows : 

" Here lies the bodj^ of Corporal Moses Atwater, who 
left England in 16G0, to enjoy liberty of conscience in a 
howling wilderness." 

The second county in the kingdom of Quinni- 
piog is Fairfield. It is situated west of Osootonoc 
river, and contains nine townships : five of which 
lie on the sea, and resemble one another ; and on 



166 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

the back of them are situated the four others, 
which also have a mutual resemblance. The 
soil is rich and uneven : the chief productions, 
excellent wheat, salt-hay, and flax. Those town- 
ships which lie on the sea, are Fairfield, JVbr- 
walk, Stamford, Greenwich and Stratford. This 
last I shall describe. 

Stratford lies on the west bank of Osootonoc 
river, having the sea or Sound on the south. 
There are three streets running north and south, 
and ten east and west. The best is one mile 
long. On the centre square stand a meeting 
with a steeple and a bell, and a church with a 
steeple, bell, clock, and organ. It is a beautiful 
place, and from the water has an appearance not 
inferior to that of Canterbury. Of six parishes 
contained in it, three are episcopal. The people 
are said to be the most polite of any in the colo- 
ny, owing to the singular moderation of the town 
in admitting latterly, Europeans to settle among 
them. Many persons come also from the islands, 
and southern provinces, for the benefit of their 
health. 

Here was erected the first episcopal church in 
Connecticut. A very extraordinary story is told 
concerning the occasion of it, which I shall give 
the reader the particulars of, the people being as 
sanguine in their belief of it as they are of the 
ship's sailing over New-Haven. 

An ancient religious rite called the Pawwaw^ 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.- 167 

was annually celebrated by the Jndians ; and 
commonly lasted several hours every night for 
two or three weeks. About 1690, they convened 
to perform it on Stratford point, near the town. 
During the nocturnal ceremony, the English saw, 
or imagined they saw, devils rise out of the sea, 
wrapped up in sheets of flame, and flying round 
the Indian camp, while the Indians were scream- 
ing, cutting, and prostrating themselves before 
their supposed fiery gods. In the midst of the 
tumult, the devils darted in among them, seized 
several, and mounted with them into the air; the 
cries and groans issuing from whom quieted the 
rest. In the morning, the limbs of Indians, all 
shrivelled, and covered with sulphur, were found 
in different parts of the town. Astonished and 
terrified at these spectacles, the people of Strat- 
ford began to think the devils would take up their 
abode among them, and called together all the 
ministers in the neighborhood, to exorcise and 
lay them. The ministers began and carried oa 
their warfare with prayer, hymns, and abjuration ; 
but the pawwaws continued, and the devils would 
not obey. The inhabitants were about to quit 
the town, when Mr. Nell spoke and said, '-I 
would to God that Mr. Visey, the episcopal mi- 
nister at New- York, was here ; for he would ex- 
pel these evil spirits." They lau-hed at his ad- 
vice ; but, on his reminding them of the little 
maid who directed Naaman to a cure for his lep- 



168 HISTORY OF CONJSiiCTICi;^. 

rosy, they vot» d him their permission to bring 
Mr. Visey at the next pavvwavv. Mr. Visey at- 
tended accordingly, and as the pawwaw com- 
menced with howlings and whoops, Mr. Visey 
read portions of the holy scripture, litany, &c. 
The sea was put into great motion ; the pawwaw 
stopped ; the Indians dispersed ; and never more 
held a pawwaw in Stratford. The iaiiabitants 
were struck with wonder at tliis event, and held a 
conference todiscover the rea<=on why the devils and 
powwawers hiul obeyed the prayers of one minister, 
and had paid no regard to those of titty. Some 
thought that the reading the holy scripture, others 
that the litany and Lord's prayer, — some, again, 
that the episcopal power of the minister, and 
others that all united were the means of obtain- 
ing the heavenly blessing they had received. 
Those who believed that the h';ly scriptures and 
litany were effectual Hgainst the devil and his 
legions, declared for the church of England ; 
while the majority ascribed their deliverance to a 
complot between the devil and the episcopal mi- 
nister, with a view to overthrow Christ's vine 
planted in New-England. Each party acted with 
more zeal than prudence. The church, h(>wever, 
increased, though oppressed by more persecu- 
tions and calamities, than were ever experienced 
by puritans from bishops and pawwawers. Even 
the use of the bible, the Lord's prayer, the litany, 
#r any part of the prayer book was forbidden ; 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 




REV. MK. VICEY, 

The Episcopal Minister, laying the Indian Powwaw at 
Stratford. 



(Page 168.) 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 169 

nay, ministers taught from their pulpits, according 
to the Blue Laws, " that the lovers of Zion had 
better put their ears to the mouth of hell, and 
learn from the whispers of the devils, than read 
the bishops' books;" while the churchmen, like 
Michael the archangel contending with the devil 
about the body of Moses, dared not bring against 
them a railing accusation. But this was not all. 
When the episcopalians had collected timber for 
a church, they found the devils had not left the 
town, but only changed their habitations — had 
left the savages and entered into fanatics and 
wood. In the night before the church was to be 
begun, the timber set up a country-dance, skip- 
ping about, and flying in the air, with as much 
agility and sulphurous stench as ever the devils 
had exhibited around the camp of the Indian 
pawwawers. This alarming circumstance would 
have ruined the credit of the church, had not the 
episcopalians ventured to look into the phenome- 
non, and found the timber to have been bored 
with augurs, charged with gun powder, and fired 
off by matches : — a discovery, however, of bad 
consequence in one respect — it has prevented the 
annalists of New-England from publishing this 
among the rest of their miracles. About 1720, 
the patience and sufferings of the episcopalians, 
who were then but a handful, procured them 
some frjpndi^ ev n atnong their pf^rsecutors ; and 
those friends condemned the cruelty exercised 

15 



170 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

over the churchmen, quakers, and anabaptists, in 
consequence of which, they first felt the eflects 
of those gentle weapons, the New-England whis- 
perings and backbitings ; and at length were 
openly stigmatised as Arminians and enemies of 
the American vine. This conduct of the Sober 
Dissenters increased the grievous sin of modera- 
tion ; and near twenty of their ministers, at the 
head of whom was Dr Cutler, president of Yale 
College, declared, on a public Commencement, 
for the church of England. Hereupon, the Ge- 
neral Assembly and Consociation, finding their 
commi nations likely to blast the American vine, 
instantly had recourse to flattery, larded over with 
tears and promises, by which means they reco- 
vered all the secessors, but four, viz. Dr. Cutler, 
Dr. Johnson, Mr. Whitmore, and Mr. Brown, who 
repaired to England for holy orders. Dr. Cutler 
had the misfortune to spend his life and great 
abilities in the fanatical, ungrateful, and factious 
town of Boston, where he went through fiery 
trials, shining brighter and brighter, till he was 
delivered from New-England persecution, and 
landed where the wicked cease from troubling. — 
Dr. Johnson, from his natural disposition, and n )t 
for the sake of gain, took pity on the neglected 
church at Stratford, where for fifty years he fought 
the beast of Ephesus with great success.^ The 



* Supplement, Note (a) 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 171 

Doctor was under the bountiful protection of the 
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in fo- 
reign parts, incorporated by William III. to save 
from the rage of republicanism, heathenism, and 
fanaticism, all such members of the church of 
England as were settled in our American colo- 
nies, factories, and plantations, beyond the sea. 
To the foresight of that monarch, to the generous 
care and protection of that society, under God, 
are owing all the loyalty, decency, Christianity 
undefiled with blood, which glimmer in New- 
England. Dr. Johnson having settled at Strat- 
ford among a nest of zealots, and not being as- 
sassinated, other dissenting ministers were in- 
duced to join themselves to the church of Eng- 
land, among whom were Mr. Beach and Mr. 
Punderson. Those gentlemen could not be 
wheedled oft* by the Assembly and Consociation ; 
they persevered, and obtained names among the 
Literati that will never be forgotten.* 

The four remaining towns of Fairfield county, 
viz. JVewtoivn, Reading, Banhury, and Ridgefield, 
lie behind the towns on the sea. I shall describe 
the best of them, which is 

Banbury. It has much the appearance of 
Croydon ; and forms five parishes, one of which 
is episcopal, and another Sandemanian ; a third 
is called Bastard Sandemanian, because the mi- 



Supplement, Note(b) and (c] 



172 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

nister refuses to put away his wife, who is a se- 
cond wife. This town was the residence, and is 
now the tomb, of the learned and ingenious Rev. 
Mr. Sandeman, well known in the literary world. 
He was the fairest and most candid Calvinist that 
ever wrote in the English language, allowing the 
natural consequences of all his propositions. He 
taught that a bishop must be the husband of one 
wife : that is, he must be married before he was 
ordained ; and, if he lost iiis wife, he could not 
marry a second : that a Bishop might dress with 
ruffles, a red coat and sword : that all the converted 
brothers and sisters, at their coming into church, 
ought to salute with an holy kiss : that all true 
christians would obey their earthly king : for 
which tenets, especially the last, the Sober Dis- 
senters of Connecticut held him to be a heretic. 

It is strikingly remarkable, that near one half 
of the people of the dominion of New-Haven are 
episcopalians, though it was first settled by the 
most violent of puritans, who claimed so much 
liberty to themselves that they left none for oth- 
ers. The General Assembly computed that the 
church of England professors amounted to one 
third of the whole colony in 1770. Hence has 
arisen a question, how it came to pass, that the 
church of England increased rapidly in Connecti- 
cut, and but slowly in Massachusetts-Bay and 
Rhode-Island ? The reason appears obvious to 
me. It is easier to turn fanatical farmers trow 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 173 

their bigotry, than to convert fanatical merchants, 
smugglers, and fishermen. Pride and gain pre- 
vent the two first, and ignorance the last, from 
ivorshipping the Lord in the heauty of holiness. 
The General Assembly of Rhode Island ne- 
ver supported any religion ; nay, lest religion 
should chance to prevail, they made a law that 
every one might do what was right in his own 
eyes, with this proviso, that no one should be 
holden to pay a note, bond, or vote, made or 
given to support the Gospel. Thus, barbarism, 
inhumanity, and infidelity, must have over-run the 
colony, had not its good situation for trade in- 
vited Europeans to settle therein. As to the 
people of Massacfmsetts-Bay, they, indeed, had 
the highest pretensions to religion ; but then it 
was so impregnated with chicane, mercantile 
policy, and insincerity, that infidelity got the bet- 
ter of fanaticism, and religion was secretly looked 
upon as a trick of state. Connecticut was settled 
by people who preferred the arts and sciences to 
the amusements which render Europe polite ; 
whence it has happened that there t>oysand girls 
are at once amused and improved with reading, 
writing, and cyphering, every winter's night, 
whilst those in the neighboring colonies polish 
themselves at cards, balls, and masquerades. In 
Connecticut, zeal, though erroneous is sincere; 
each sect believes religion to be a substantial 
good ; and fanaticism and prejudice have turned 

15* 



174 HISTORY OP CONNEGTICUgr. 

it into superstition, which is stronger than reason 
or the laws of humanity. Thus, it is very obser- 
vable, that, when any persons conform to the 
church of England, they leave neither their su- 
perstition nor zeal at the meetings ; they retrench 
only fanaticism and cruelty, put on bowels of 
mercy, and pity those in error. It should be 
added, that every town in the colony is by law 
obliged to support a grammar-school, and every 
parish an English school. From experience, there- 
fore, I judge, that superstition with knowledge and 
sincerity, is more favorable to religion than su- 
perstition with ignorance and insincerity; and that 
it is for this reason the Church thrives in Con- 
necticut, and exists only in the other New-Eng- 
land provinces. In further support of my opin- 
ion, I shall recite the words of the Rev. Mr. 
George Whitfield, in his first tour through Ame- 
rica, in 1740. He then found the people of Con- 
necticut wise in polemical divinity, and told them 
that much learning had made them mad ; that he 
wished to leave them with ''■sleep on and take 
your rest in the Bible, in Baxter, Gouge, and 
Bunyan, without the knowledge of Bishop's 
books." 

Persons who suppose churchmen in Connecti- 
cut possessed of less zeal and sincerity than the 
various sects among the dissenters, are under a 
mistake ; for they have voluntarily preferred the 
church under every human discouragement, and 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 175 

suffered persecution rather than persecute. Con- 
ducting themselves upon this truly christian, 
though impolitic principle, they have, in the space 
of sixty years, humanized above sixty thousand 
puritans, who had ever been hating and perse- 
cuting one another; and though the General As- 
sembly and Consociation are alarmed at the pro- 
gress of christian moderation, yet many individu- 
als among them, perceiving that pers?ecut5on 
declines wherever the church prevails, bless God 
for its growth ; whilst the rest, more zealous for 
dominion, and the politics of their ancestors the 
regicides, than for the gospel of peace and love, 
compass sea and land to export and diffuse that 
intolerant spirit which overthrew the eastern 
church, and has cursed the western. For this 
purpose they have sent New-England ministers 
as missionaries to the southern colonies, to rouse 
them out of their religious and political igno- 
rance ; and, what is very astonishing, they suc- 
ceeded best with the episcopal clergy, whose im- 
morality, vanity, or love of self government, or 
some less valuable principle, induced them to 
join the dissenters of New-England against an 
American Bishop, from a pure intention, they 
said, of preserving the church of England in 
America. If their reward be not pointed out in 
the fable of the Fox and Crane, they will be more 
fortunate than most men. Other missionaries 
were dispersed among the Six Nations of Indians, 



176 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

who were under the care of the clergy and school- 
masters of the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel- There, for a time, wonders were eHect- 
ed ; the Indians were made drunk with zeal. But 
when their fanaticism was abated, they cursed the 
protestant religion, and ordered the ministers of 
all denominations to depart out of their country 
in a fixed time, on pain of death. Another band 
of saints went to Nova-Scotia, to convert the un- 
converted under the clergy appointed by the 
Bishop of London ; among whom, however, meet- 
ing with little encouragement, they shook off 
the dust of their feet against them, and returned 
home. These peregrinations, the world was 
taught to believe, were undertaken solely to ad- 
vance the interests of religion ; but righteousness 
and PEACE have not yet kissed each other in New- 
England ; and, besides, the pious pretences of 
the Sober Dissenters ill accorded with their bitter 
revilings of the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel, for sending clergymen to promote the 
spiritual good of the churchmen among them. 

It is worthy of especial notice, that, among all 
the episcopal clergy hitherto settled in Connecti- 
cut, only one of them has been accused, even by 
their enemies, of a scandalous life, or of any vio- 
lation of the moral law. They have exercised 
more patience, resignation, and self-denial, under 
their various trials, fatigues, and oppressions, 
than can be paralleled elsewhere in the present 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 177 

century. The countenance of the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts, and an 
allowance of about 650/ per annum between 
eighteen of them, have proved the means of avert- 
ing from the professors of the church of England 
that rigor which has constantly marked tlie con- 
duct of the General Assembly and Consociation 
towards anabaptists, quakers, &c. &c. Had the 
bishops shewn as much concern for the welfare of 
the church of England in America as the Society 
has done, they would have prevented many re- 
proaches being cast upon them by the dissenters 
as hireling shepherds, and have secured the af- 
fections of the American clergy, in every pro- 
vince, to themselves, to their King, and the Bri- 
tish government. If the religion of the church 
of England ought to have been tolerated and 
supported in America, (which, considering the 
lukewarmness of the bishops in general, even 
since the Restoration of Charles II. seems to have 
been a dubious point,) policy and justice should 
long ago have induced the King anid Parliament 
of Great Britain to have sent bishops to America, 
that churchmen at least might have been upon an 
equal footing with dissenters. Against American 
bishops 1 have never heard of any objection, 
either from the dissenters, or the episcopal clergy 
south of the Delaware river, so powerful as the 
following, " That the churcl* of England increa- 
ses in America, without bishops, faster than i% 



mt> 



178 HISTORY OP CONNECTICUT. 

does in England, where are bishops to spare. '^ 
If the dissenters in America err not in advancing 
as a fact, that since 1715, the church of England 
under bishops has been upon the decline, and the 
protestant dissenters upon the increase, in Eng- 
land ; it may be but natural to suppose that the 
dissenters in America wish to have the English 
bishops resident there, and the dissenters in Eng- 
land to retain them, as they appear to be so be- 
neficial towards the growth of the dissenting 
interest here : and so the dissenters in both coun- 
tries disputing about the residence of the bishops, 
merely because the absence of them is disadvan- 
tageous to the one, and their presence advanta- 
geous to the other, would it not be the best way 
of strengthening the interest of both those parties, 
and weakening that of the church of England, to 
retain half the bishops in England, and send the 
other half to America ? Against this plan, surelyj 
jio dissenter could object : it will neither add to 
the national expense, nor to the disadvantage of 
England or America; since it promises to be 
equally serviceable to the protestant dissenting 
interest on both sides the Atlantic, and will re- 
concile a difference between the protestant dis- 
senters that has been supposed in New-England 
to be the reason of bishops not being sent to 
above one million of episcopalians in America, 
who are left like sheep in a wilderness without a 
shepherd, to the great danger of the protestant 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 179 

dissenting religion in those parts. Nor can it be 
apprehended that this plan of dividing the bishops 
will meet with the disapprobation of the episco- 
palians, except a few licentious clergymen in the 
American southern colonies, who dread their 
Lordships' sober advice and coercive power. 

Of all the wonders of the English church, the 
greatest is, that the rulers of it should hold epis- 
copacy to be an institution of Christ, and that the 
Gospel is to be spread among all nations, and, at 
the same time, should refuse the American 
churchmen a bishop, and the fanatics and hea- 
then all opportunities of enjoying the Gospel dis- 
pensation in the purity and lusture with which it 
shines in tlie mother-country. If bishops are ne- 
cessary, let America have them ; if they are not 
necessary, let them be extirpated from the face of 
the earth : for no one can be an advocate for their 
existence merely for the support of pomp, pride, 
and insolence, either in England or America. 

The English and Dutch have always kept their 
colonies under a state of religious persecution, 
while the French and Spaniards have acted with 
generosity in that respect towards theirs. The 
Dutch presbyterians in New-York were held in 
subordination to the classis of Amsterdam, till a 
few years since, tiiey discovered that subjection 
to be anti-constitutional and oppressive ; upon 
which a majority of the ministers, in tlieir coetus, 
erected a classis for the ordination of ministers,. 



180 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

and the government of their churches, in defi- 
ance of the ecclesiastical judicatory at Amster- 
dam. Mr. Smith, in his History of that province, 
p. 252, justifies this schism upon the following 
ground : "The expense," says he, " attending the 
ordination of their candidates in Holland, and the 
reference of their disputes to the classis of Am- 
sterdam, is very considerable; and with what 
consequences, the interruption of their corres- 
pondence with the European Dutch would be at- 
tended, in case of a war, well deserves their con- 
sideration." Nevertheless, Mr. Smith aojrees 
with his protestant dissenting neighbours, that 
the American episcopalians suffered no hardship 
in being obliged to incur the same expense in 
crossing the Atlantic for ordination. If the 
Dutch are justifiable in their schism, I cannot 
perceive why the American episcopalians might 
not be justified in a like schism from the bisl.up 
of London. Had the episcopalians as little aver- 
sion to schism as the protestant dissenters, the 
clergy north of the Delaware would, in .765, 
have got rid of their regard for an English, and 
accepted of a Greek bishop, whom they could 
have supported for half the expense tlieir candi- 
dates were at in going to England for ordination. 
But they were said by some to be conscientious 
men, while others said they were Issaciiafs sons. 
Couching doion lencath their burthens. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 181 

To proceed in my description of the coun- 
try :— 

Connecticut is situated between 41 and 42 
deg. N. lat. and between 72 and 73 deg. 50 min. 
W. long, from London. Notwithstanding, from 
this latitude, New-London lies 600 miles nearer 
the line than the capital of England, the winter 
sets in there a month before it does here ; and not 
only continues longer, but is more severe. This 
extraordinary coldness is said by naturalists to 
arise from the vast frozen lakes and rivers, and 
mountains eternally covered with snow, through- 
out the northernmost parts of America. The 
mountains may have their share in producing this 
effect ; but I am apt to think the lakes and rivers 
have a contrary influence. If I ask, why lands 
bordering upon them are three weeks earlier in 
their productions than lands ten miles distant, it 
will readily be imputed to the warmth of the air, 
occasioned by the reflection of the sun's rays from 
the water. On the same principle, I argue, that 
the rays of the sun, multiplied and reflected by 
ice also, will render the air warmer. But it may 
be further said, that the cause is, perhaps, to be 
ascribed to the soil's being more sandy and loose 
near a lake or river, and therefore, naturally 
warmer, than that which is remote and not sandy. 
I reply, that there are loose, sandy plains, twenty 
miles oft' any lake or river, three weeks later in 
their products, and very perceptibly colder than 

16 



182 HISTORY Of CONNECTICUT* 

lands upon them. It would be to no purpose ta 
urge, that the damps and fogs from unfrozen lakes, 
rivers, Slc. affect the distant, but not the adjacent 
country ; because, I apprehend, there are no un- 
frozen lakes, rivers, &c. in the north of America 
in winter. Besides, if there were, the mists ari- 
sing from them would naturally be intercepted 
by the first mountains or forests they approach- 
ed. But I pretend to little philosophical know- 
ledge in these matters ; I write from experience ; 
and can thence, moreover, assert, that mountains 
with snow upon them are not so cold as they 
would be without it ; and that mountains covered 
with trees are the coldest of all places, but, with- 
out trees, are not so cold as forests on plains. I 
am clearly of opinion, therefore, that not the lakes 
or rivers, but the infinite quantity of timber in the 
immense regions of North America, whether upon 
mountains or not, is the grand cause of the cold- 
ness of the winters in Connecticut. I will add, 
moreover, in support of my argument, that beasts, 
in the coldest weather, are observed to quit the 
woods and woody mountains, for lakes, rivers, 
and the cultivated open country : and that Con- 
necticut, having now lost most of its timber, is 
by no means so intensely cold in winter as it was 
forty years ago, and as Susquehanna is at present, 
a wilderness in the same latitude. The snow 
and ice commonly cover the country, without 
rains, from Christmas to March ; then rains, at- 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 18o 

tended with a boisterous wind from the north and 
east, melt the snow, which converting brooks into 
rivers, and rivers into seas, in four or five days 
the ice is rent from its groaning banks, in such 
mighty sheets as shake the earth for twenty miles. 
Nature being thus in convulsions, the winds turn 
her fits into madness, by driving ice upon ice, 
whose thunders cease not till the ocean swallows 
up the whole. 

It is but natural to suppose that the summers 
in Connecticut are much hotter than those in 
England; nevertheless, from the clenrness and 
serenity of the sky, the climate is healthy both to 
natives and foreigners of all nations. Connecti- 
cut is a hospital for the invalids of the Islands 
and southern provinces ; but, in general, they no 
sooner amend their own constitutions, than the 
pestilence, which rages in that of the province, 
drives them to Rhode Island or New- York, where 
fanaticism is lost in irreligion. The people of 
Connecticut reckon time almost five hours later 
than the English. The longest day consists of 
fifteen hours, the shortest of nine. The bright- 
ness of the sun, moon and, stars, together with 
their reverberated rays on ice, snow, waters, trees, 
mountains, pebbles, and flat stones, dazzle and 
weaken the eyes of the New-Englanders to such 
a degree, that, in general, they are obliged to use 
glasses before they are fifty years of age. For 
the most part, also, they have bad teeth, which 



184 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

have been ascribed to the extreme heats and 
colds of summer and winter ; but, as the Indians 
and negroes in the same climate, have remarka- 
bly good teeth, it may be said, with great reason, 
that the many indulgences of the one, and the 
temperance of the other, and not the heats and 
colds, are the causes of good and bad teeth. 

S;>iL and Produce. — The soil is various in dif- 
ferent parts of the province ; in some black, iu 
others brown, and elsewhere red, but all rich. 
Some plains are sandy, and of a whitish color; 
and these produce rye, beans, and Indian corn. 
The meadows and low lands are excellent pas- 
turage, and yield great crops of hay. The hills 
and uplands have a rich, deep soil, but are sub- 
ject to droughts in July and August, which in 
many places are relieved by water drawn fron> 
rivers, ponds, and brooks, in troughs and ditches. 
The crops of European grain are always good, 
when the snow, which in general is the only ma- 
nure, covers the earth from December to March. 
One acre commonly yields from twenty to thirty 
bushels of wheat ; of Indian corn from forty to 
sixty bushels, on river land, and from thirty to 
forty on hilly land : but it is to be observed, that 
one bushel of it raised on hilly land weighs 13lbs. 
more than a bushel raised on river land. All 
European grains flourish here ; and the grass is as 
thick and much longer than in En<iland. Maize, 
or Indian corn is planted in hillocks three feet 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 185 

apart, five kernels and two pumpkin seeds in a 
hillock; and between the hillocks are planted 
ten beans in a hillock; so that, if the season 
prove favorable, the beans or the pumpkins are 
worth as much as the corn. If, from an acre, the 
crop of corn be twenty bushels, add the beans and 
pumpkins, and it will be equal to sixty bushels ; 
so, if there be sixty bushels of corn, a proportion- 
ate growth of beans and pumpkins will render 
the product equal to one hundred and eighty 
bushels. One man plants an acre in a day ; in 
three days he hoes the same three times ; and six 
days more suffice for plowing and gathering the 
crop. For these ten days' work, the price is thir- 
ty shillings : and allowing ten shillings for the 
use of the land, the whole expense is two pounds, 
and no more, whilst the corn is worth two shil- 
lings per bushel. The gain is seldom less than 
300, and often 600 per cent. It is thus that the 
poor man becomes rich in a few years, if prudent 
and industrious. 

The limits of Connecticut are reckoned to com- 
prise 5,000,000 acres, half of which are supposed 
to be swallowed up in rivers, ponds, creeks, and 
roads. The inhabitants are estimated at 200,000 ; 
so that there remain but twelve and a half acres 
for each individual. Let it now be considered 
that the people buy no provisions from other 
provinces, but, on the contrary, export full as 
much as they consume, and it will appear that eack 



i86 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

person has in fact only six and a quarter acres for 
his own support, two of which must be set apart 
for the growth of wood, the only fuel of the colo- 
ny. Should I not then be justified in saying that 
Connecticut is as good and flourishing land as 
any part of Great Britain. 

The face of the country resembles Devonshire. 
Glocestershire, Surry, and Kent. The farmers 
divide their lands into four, five, and ten acres, 
by stone walls or posts and rails. The roads from 
north to south are generally level and good ; from 
east to west, hilly and bad for carriages. 

The various fruits are in greater perfection than 
in England. The peach and apple are more lus- 
cious, beautiful, and large: 1,000 peaches are 
produced from one tree ; five or six barrels of ci- 
der from one apple-tree. Cider is the common 
drink at table. The inhabitants have a method 
of purifying cider by frost, and separating the 
watery part from the spirit, which, being secured 
in proper vessels, and colored by Indian corn, 
becomes in three months so much like Madeira 
wine, that Europeans drink it without perceiving 
the difference. They make peachy and perry; 
grape, cherry, and currant wines ; and good beer 
tof pumpkins, molasses, bran of wheat, spruce, and 
malt. The spruce is the leaves ^nd limbs of the 
fir tree : their malt is made of maize, barley, oats, 
rye, chets, and wheat. The pumpkin, or pompi- 
en, is one of the greatest blessings, and held verj 



HISTORY OF CONNEGTICUT. 187 

sacred in New-England. It is a native of Ameri- 
ca. From one seed often grow forty pumpkins, 
each weighing from forty to sixty pounds, and, 
when ripe, of the color of the marigold. Each 
pumpkin contains 500 seeds, which, being boiled 
to a jelly is the Indian infallible cure for the stran- 
gury. Of its meat are made beer, bread, custards, 
sauce, molasses, vinegar, and, on thanksgiving 
days, pies, as a substitute for what the Blue Laws 
brand as antichristian minced pies. Its skin or 
shell, serves for caps to cut the hair by, (as al- 
ready mentioned,) and very useful lanthorns. 
There are no trees, grain, or fruits, growing in 
England, but what grow in Connecticut. The 
English oak has been thought much superior to 
the American. Whatever policy may be in this 
opinion, I will venture to say there is no truth 
in it, in respect to the white oak of Connecticut, 
which is tough, close, hard, and elastic, as the 
whale-bone dried. The red, black, and chesnut 
oak, are, indeed, much inferior to the white oak. 
The ash, elm, beech, chesnut, walnut, hazel, sas- 
safras, sumach, maple, and butternut, are the 
chief timber trees of this province, and grow to 
an amazing bulk. The last is a native of Ameri- 
ca, and takes its name from a nut it produces, of 
the shape and size of a pullet's egg, which con- 
tains a meat much larger than any English wal- 
nut, in taste like fresh butter : it also makes an 
excellent pickle. The butternut furnishes fine 



188 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

t 

but tender boards ; and its bark dyes black, and 
cures cutaneous disorders. In February this 
tree yields a sap, of which are made sugar, molas- 
ses, and vinegar. The upland maple tree also 
affords a sap equally good ; and both saps make 
a pleasant beverage without boiling, and the best 
punch ever drank in Connecticut. 

Here are many iron mines, nay mountains of 
iron ore; and, if they had been attended to with 
the same diligence as the farms, they would have 
supplied Great-Britain with iron, to the great 
prejudice of Sweden, and other European nations. 
For this commercial loss the inhabitants are in- 
debted to their own quarrels, jealousy, and reli- 
gious feuds, together with the intrigues of their 
neighbors. Some pig and bar iron they send, 
out of pure spite or folly, to New-York or Boston, 
to be shipped for England, by the merchants 
there, who always pay so much less for it, as the 
duty on Swedish iron amounts to ; so that Con- 
necticut allows a duty to those merchants, which 
they do not pay themselves. 

English, Barbary, and Dutch horses abound in 
this province ; they are not so heavy, but more 
mettlesome and hardy than in England. Here 
are more sheep than in any two colonies in Ame- 
rica ; their wool also is better than that of the 
sheep in the other colonies, yet not so fine and 
good as the English. A common sheep weighs 
sixty pounds, and sells for a dollar, or 4^. 6(?* 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICIJT. 189 

The horned cattle are not so large as the English ; 
yet there have been a few instances of oxen, six 
years old, weighing 1,1)00 each. The fat hogs 
here excel any in England ; many weigh five or 
six hundred pounds. Connecticut pork is far su- 
perior to any other. 

There are only tw^o small parks of deer in Con- 
necticut, but plenty of rabbits, hares, grey, black, 
striped and red squirrels, otters, minks, racoons, 
weazels, foxes, whapperknockers, woodchucks, 
cubas, and skunks. The following descriptions^ 
of the four last mentioned animals may be new to 
(he reader. 

The whapperknocker is somewhat bigger than 
a weazel, and of a beautiful brown-red color. 
He lives in the woods on worms and birds; is so 
wild that no man can tame him ; and, as he never 
quits his harbor in the day time, is only to be ta- 
ken by traps in the night. Of the skins of these 
animals, which are covered with an exceeding 
fine fur, are made muflfs at the price of thirty or 
forty guineas apiece ; so that it is not without 
reason the ladies pride themselves on the pos- 
session of this small appurtenance of female ha- 
biliment. 

The woodchuck, erroneously called the bad- 
ger by some persons, is of the size of a large ra- 
coon, in form resembles a Guinea pig, and when 
eating makes a noise like a hog, whence he is 
jiamed woodchuck, or chuck of the wood. His 



190 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

legs are short ; but his claws sharp, teeth strong, 
and courage great, on occasions of self-defence. 
He burrows in the earth, feeds on clover and 
pumpkins during summer, and sleeps all the 
winter. His flesh is good to eat^ and his skin 
makes excellent leather. 

The cuba I suppose to be peculiar to New- 
England. The male is of the size of a large cat, 
has four long tushes sharp as a razor, is very ac- 
tive in defending himself, and if he has the first 
blow, will spoil a dog before he yields. His lady 
is peaceable and harmless, and depends for pro- 
tection upon her spouse ; and as he has more 
courage than prudence, always attends him to 
moderate his temper. She sees danger, and he 
fears it not. She chatters at him while he is i;re- 
paring for battle ; and, if she thinks the danger 
is too great, she runs to him, and clings about his 
neck, screaming her extreme distress — his wrath 
abates, and by her advice they fly to their caves. 
In like manner, when he is chained, and irritated 
into the greatest rage by an impertinent dog, his 
laay, who is never chained, will fly about his 
neck and kiss him, and ^n half a minute restore 
him to calmness. He is very tender of his fami- 
ly, and never forsakes them till death dissolves 
their union. What further shews the magnani- 
mity of this little animal, he never manifests the 
least anger towards his lady, though I have often 
seen her extremely loquacious, and, as 1 guessed^ 



History of Connecticut. 191 

impertinent to him. How happy would the ra- 
tional part of the creation become, if they would 
but follow the example of these irrational beasts! 
I the more readily suppose the cuba to be pecu- 
liar to New-England, not only from my never 
having yet seen the creature described, but also 
on account of its perverse observance of Carni- 
val and neglect of €areme. 

The Skunk is also peculiar to America, and 
very different from the Pole-Cat, which he is 
sometimes called. He is black striped with 
white ; and of the size of a small racoon, with 
a sharp nose. He burrows in the earth like a 
fox, feeds like a fox on fowls and eggs, and has 
strong teeth and claws like a fox : he has long 
hair, and thick and good fur; is the beauty of the 
wilderness ; walks slow, and cannot run so fast 
as a man ; is not wild but very familiar with every 
creature. His tail, which is shaggy, and about 
one foot in length, he turns over his back at 
pleasure, to make himself appear larger and high- 
er than he really is. When his tail is thus lying 
on his back, he is prepared for war, and generaN 
ly conquers every enemy that lives by air; for 
on it lies his only weapon, about one inch from 
his body, or rump, in a small bladder or bag, 
which IS full of an essence, whose tint is of the 
brightest yellow, and odor somewhat like the 
smell of garlic, but far more exquisite and pier- 
cing than any volatile spirit known to chemists. 



192 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

One drop will scent a house to such a degree, 
that musk, with the help of brimstone and tar burnt, 
will not expel it in six months. The bladder in 
which this essence lies is worked by the animal 
like an engine, pump, or squirt; and when the 
creature is assaulted, he turns his head from his 
enemy, and discharges from his tail the essence, 
which fills the neighboring air with a mist that 
destroys the possibility of living in it. I have 
seen a large house-dog, by one discharge of the 
Skunk, retire with shame and sickness ; and at 
another time, a bullock bellowing as if a dog had 
held him by his nose. Was it not for man, no 
creature could kill this animal, which, instead of 
the Lion, ought to be crowned King of Animals, 
as well on account of his virtues and com- 
plaisance, as his courage. He knows his forte ; 
he fears nothing, he conquers all ; yet he is civil 
to all, and never gives, as he will not take, of- 
fence. / His virtues are many. The wood of Ca- 
lamba, which cures fainting-fits and strokes of the 
palsy, and is worth its weight in gold, is far less 
valuable than the above mentioned essence of 
this animal. The bag is extracted whole from 
his tail, and the essence preserved in glass ; no- 
thing else will confine it. One drop sufficiently 
impregnates a quart of spring water; and a half 
a gill of water thus impregnated is a dose. It 
cures the hiccups, asthmatic, hysteric, paralytic, 
and hectic disorders ; and the odor prevents 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 193 

faintness. The flesh of this animal is excellent 
food ; and its oil cures sprains, and contractions 
of the sinews. "'^^ 

The feathered tribe in Connecticut are, tur- 
keys, geese, ducks, and all kinds of barn-door 
poultry; innumerable flocks of pigeons, which 
fly to the south in autumn ; cormorants, of all 
sizes ; hawks, owls, ravens, and crows ; partridges, 
quails, heath-hens, blackbirds, snipes, larks, hu- 
militys, whipperwills, dewminks, robins, wrens, 
swallows, sparrows, the flax, crimson, white and 
blue birds, (fcc. (fcc, to which I must add the 
humming bird, though it might wantonly be styled 
the empress of the honey-bees, partaking with 
them of the pink, tulip, rose, daisy, and other aro- 
matics. The partridges in New-England are 
near as large as a Darking, fowl ; the quails, as 
an English partridge; and the robins twice as 
big as those in England. The dew^-mink so na- 
med from its articulating those syllables, is black 
and white, and of the size of an English robin. 
Its flesh is delicious. The humility is so called, 
because it speaks the word humility, and seldom 
mounts high in the air. Its l^gs are long enough 
to enable it to outrun a dog for a little way ; its 
wings long and narrow, body maigre, and of the 
size of a blackbird's; plumage variegated with 
white, black, blue, and red. It lives on tadpoles, 
spawn and worms ; has an eye more piercing than 
the falcon, and the swiftness of an eagle. Hence 



J7 



194 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

it can never be shot : for it sees the sparks of fire 
even before they enkindle the powder, and, by 
the extreme rapidity of its flight, gets out of reach 
in an instant. It is never known to light upon a 
tree, but is always seen upon the ground or wing. 
These birds appear in New-England in summer 
only; what becomes of them afteiwards is not 
discovered. They are caught in snares, but can 
never be tamed. 

The whipperwill has so named itself by its noc- 
turnal songs. It is also called the pope, by rea- 
son of its darting with great swiftness, from the 
clouds to the ground, and bawling out Pope! 
which alarms young people and the fanatics very 
much, especially as they know it to be an omi- 
nous bird. However, it has hitherto proved 
friendly, always iiiving travellers and others n«>tice 
of an approaching storm, by saluting them every 
minute with Pope! Pope! It flies only a little 
before sunset, unless for this purpose of giving 
notice of a storm. It never deceives the people 
with false news. If the tempest is to continue 
long, the augurs appear in flocks, and nothing 
can be heard b-t the word Pope ! Pope ! The 
whipperwill is about the size of a cuckow, has a 
short beak, long and narrow wings, a large hc^ad, 
and mouth enormous, yet it is not a bird of prey. 
Under its throat is a pocket, which it fills with 
air at pleasure, whereby it sounds forth the fatal 
wore- Pope in the day, and Whip-her-l-wiU in 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 195 

the night. The superstitious inhabitants would 
have exorcised this harmless bird long ago, as an 
emissary from Rome, and an enemy to the Ameri- 
can vine, had they not found out that it frequents 
New-England only in the summer, and prefers 
the wilderness to a palace. Nevertheless, many 
cannot but believe it a spy from some foreign 
court, an agent of antichrist, a lover of persecu- 
tion, and an enemy of protestants, because it 
sings of whipping, and of the Pope, which they 
think portends misery and a change of religion. 

The principal insects are, the hornet, bull-fly, 
glow-bug, humble-bee, and the black and yellow 
wasp. 

The bull-fly is armed with a coat of mail, 
which it can move from one place to another, as 
sliders to a window are moved. Its body is about 
an inch long, and its horns half an inch, very 
sharp and strong. It has six feet, with claws 
sharp as needles, and runs fast. It also flies with 
some speed. In sucking the blood or juice of 
its prey, this creature holds the same in its claws, 
otherwise the prey is carried between his horns. 

The glow-bug both crawls and flies, and is 
about half an inch long. These insects fly in the 
summer evenings, nearly seven feet from the 
ground, in such multitudes, that they aflbrd suffi- 
cient light for people to walk by. The bright- 
ness, however, is interrupted by twinklings; but 
they are instantaneous and short as those of the 



196 HISTORY OF CONNECTICIJT. 

eye ; so that darkness no sooner takes place than 
it vanishes. 

The humble-bee is almost as large as the hum- 
ming-bird, but cannot fly near so fast. It builds 
its nest in the ground, where it makes a honey- 
comb of the size of a man's hand, and fills it with 
bee-bread, wax, and honey, excelling that of the 
honey-bee in taste. Two or three begin, and 
having shortly multiplied to about forty, the 
young ones leave home as soon as they can fly, to 
begin new settlements. These bees are wrongly 
named ; they are warriors, and only want quanti- 
ty of poison to be more fatal than rattle-snakes. 
The honey-bees can sting but once, while the 
humble-bees will sting a thousand times. Their 
body is black and white ; wings of a Doric color; 
sight piercing; hearing quick ; and temper cruel. 

Among the reptiles of Connecticut are the 
black, the water, milk, and streaked snakes, all 
harmless. The belled or rattle-snakes are large, 
and will gorge a common cat. They are seldom 
seen from their rocky dens. Their bite is mortal 
if not speedily cured ; yet they are generous and 
without guile ; before they bite, they rattle their 
bells three or four times ; but, after that, their 
motion is swift, and stroke sure. The Indians dis- 
covered and informed the English of a weed, com- 
mon in the country, which, mixed with spittle, 
will extract the poison. 

The toads and frogs are plenty in the spring of 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 197 

the year. The tree-frogs, whipperwills, and 
whooping-owls, serenade the inhabitants every 
night with music far excelling the harmony of the 
trumpet, drum, and jews-harp. 

The tree-frog cannot be called an insect, a 
reptile, or one of the winged host. He has four 
legs, the two foremost short, with claws as sharp as 
those of a squirrel: the hind legs 5 inches long, and 
folding by three joints. His body is about as big 
as the first joint of a man's thumb. Under his 
throat is a wind-bag, which assists him in singing 
the word I-sa ac, all the night. When it rains, 
and is very dark, he sings the loudest. His voice 
is not so pleasing as that of a nightingale ; but 
this would be a venial imperfection, if he would 
but keep silence on Saturday nights, and not for- 
ever prefer I-sa ac to Abraham and Jacob. He 
has more elasticity in his long legs than any other 
ci:eature yet known. By this means he will leap 
five yards up a tree, fastening himself to it by his 
forefeet; and in a moment will hop or r.pring as 
far from one tree to another. It is from the sing- 
ing of the tree-frog that the Americans have ac- 
quired the name of Little Isaac. Indeed, like a 
certain part of them, the creature appears very 
devout, noisy, arbitrary, and phlegmatic, and as- 
sociates with none but what agree with him in 
his ways. 

The oysters, clams, quauhogs, lobsters, crabs, 
and fish, are innumerable. The shad, bass, and 

17* 



198 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

salmon, more than half support the province. 
The sturgeon is made no use of. From the num- 
ber of seines employed to catch the fish passing 
up to the lakes, one might be led to suppose the 
whole must be stopped ; yet, in six months time 
they return to the sea with such multitudes of 
young ones as fill Connecticut river for many 
days, and no finite being can number them. 

Population and Inhabitants. — Connecticut, 
in proportion to its extent, exceeds every other 
colony of English America, as well in the abun- 
dance of people as cultivation of soil. The num- 
ber of the first settlers at Saybrook, in 1634, was 
200 ; in 1636, at Hertford, 106 ; in 1637, at New- 
Haven, 157; in all 463. In 1670, the residents 
in these three settlements amounted to 15,000, of 
whom 2,000 were men capable of bearing arms ; 
the rest, old men, women, and children. In 1680, 
the residents were 20,000; in 1770, 200,000. 
Hence, it appears, that the people of Connecti- 
cut did, during the 90 years preceding the lastmen- 
tioned date, increase 2,000 each year, i. e. 20,000 
in a period of 90 years, doubled their number ten 
times over. Should the 200,000, which existed 
in Connecticut in 1770, double their number in 
the same manner for the ensuing 90 years, the 
province will, in the year 1860, contain 2,000,000, 
and if the fighting men should then be in the 
same proportion to the rest of the inhabitants, as 
they were in 1670, they will amount to no less 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 19^ 

than 266,000. I see no reason in nature why it 
may not be so. 

Since 1670, the emigrations from Europe, or 
elsewhere, to Connecticut, have been trifling in 
comparison to the emigrations from Connecticut 
to New-Jersey, New-Hampshire, Massachusetts- 
Bay, Nova Scotia, &c. &c. 

Manufactures. — The inhabitants manufacture 
coarse and fine flannels, linen, cotton, and wool- 
len cloths, woollen stockings, mittens, and gloves, 
for their own use; they spin much cotton and 
flax ; and make common and the best kind of 
beaver hats. Ship-building is a great branch of 
business in Connecticut, which is carried on 
much cheaper than in Europe, by means of saw- 
mills worked by water. The planks are cut by a 
gang often or twelve saws, more or less, as occa- 
sion requires, while the carriage is backed but 
once. Great part of the ship timber is also cut 
by water. Anchor making is done by water and 
trip hammers, without much fatigue to the work- 
men. Distillation and paper making increase 
every year. Here are many rope walks, which 
want neither hemp nor flax ; and formerly here 
were rolling and slitting works, but they have 
been suppressed by an act of parliament, to the 
ruin of many families. 

Commerce. — The exports of Connecticut con- 
sist chiefly of all sorts of provisions, pig and bar 
iron, pot and pearl ashes, staves, lumber, boards, 



200 HISTORY OF COXNECTICUT. 

iron pots and kettles, anchors, planks, hoopsy 
shingles, live cattle, horses, &c. &c. To \Ahat 
amount these articles are annually exported may 
be judged of from the following very low esti- 
mate : 

Pork £ 93,750 

Beef 100,000 

Mutton 5,000 

Horses 40,000 

Wheat 340,000 

Butter, cheese, rye, oats, onions tobacco, 
cider, maize, beans, fowls, eggs, tallow, 
and hides, 90,000 

Ships, anchors, cables, cordage, pig and 
bar iron, pots, k( ttles, pot and pearl 
ashes, boards, and lumber 250,000 



918,750 
besides hay, fish, &c. cSsc. The salmon large 
and small, are exported both pickled and dried. 

In the above statement of exports, I have al- 
lowed only for horses bred in the colony, and not 
for those brought for exportation from Canada, 
and other northern parts, which are very nume- 
rous. The calculation of the wheat, the common 
price of which is three shillings sterling per 
bushel, is founded upon the allowed circumstance 
of the exportation being equal to the consump- 
tion, viz. 2,600,000 bushels among 200,000 per- 
sons, accordinor to the acknowledged necessary 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 201 

portion of thirteen bushels for one person. The 
pork is estimated according to the reputed num- 
ber of houses m the province, viz. 30,000, allow- 
ing one and a qunrter barrels for each house, at 
21, lOs. per barrel. 

The imports, in 1680, when the number of in- 
habitants was 20,000, amounted to iO,OuO^ i* e. 
at the rate of Its. for each individual. Suppo- 
sing the increase of imports only to keep pace 
with that of the people, they would, in i770y 
when the province contained 200,000 souls, 
amount to 100,000/.; but, I believe that to be not 
above one quarter of their value. 

Boston, New-York, and Newport, have the 
greatest share of the exports of Connecticut, and 
pay for them in English or Dutch goods^ at cent, 
per cent, profit to themselves, upon a moderate 
computation. What few of them are sent by the 
colony to the West Indies are paid for honorably 
in rum, molasses, sugar, salt, brandy, cotton, and 
money. 

Consequences very prejudicial attend the com- 
merce of Connecticut, thus principally carried on 
through the medium of the neighboring colonies- 
I will here point out one material instance. Con- 
necticut pork, a considerable article of exporta- 
tion, excels all other in America, and fetches a 
half-penny more per pound. Of this difference 
in price the merchants of New- York, Boston, &c. 
have taken care to avail themselves, by mixing 



202 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

their own inferior pork with that of Connecticut, 
and then selling the whole at the full price of the 
latter. This fair dealing was managed thus: — 
The pork of Connecticut is packed up in barrels, 
each of which, according to statute regulation, 
must weigh 220lbs. and contain not more than 
six legs, and three half heads. The packer is to 
mark the barrel before it is shipped, and is liable 
to a heavy punishment, if there should be found 
four half heads and seven legs in the barrel when 
it is delivered for exportation. Butof largi- pork 
two legs and half a hv ad will be a sufficient pro- 
portion of those parts in a barrel. This gives 
the New-York and Bostonian merchants an op- 
portunity of taking out the best part of the Con- 
necticut pork, and substituting in its place an 
equal weight of their own, whereby it often hap- 
pens, that four legs and two half heads are found 
in a barrel of reputed Connecticut pork. Though 
it then remains a barrel according to the statute, 
it cannot but be supposed that this practice must 
greatly hurt the credit of Connecticut pork, with 
all who are not apprised that it passes through 
the renowned provinces of Massachusetts-Bay 
and New-York. 

The people of Connecticut have long been 
sensible of the many and great inipositions arjd 
disadvimtages which beset their commercial sys- 
tem ; yet, though sufficient power is in their own 
bands, they have no inclination or resolution to 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 203 

attempt a reformation of it. The reason is, the 
mutual animosities and rancor subsisting be- 
tween the dominions of New London, Hertford, 
and New-Haven, each of which prefers the gen- 
eral ruin of the province to a coalition upon any 
terms short of conquest. The seeds of this dis- 
cord were thus sown by their two insidious neish- 
bors. The port of New-London is by far the 
best in the province, and extremely well calcula- 
ted for its capital and grand commercial empo- 
rmm ; and about fifty years since, a number of 
merchants there began to export and import 
goods, seemingly to the satisfaction of the whole 
colony, but to the great displeasure and chagrin 
of those of New- York and Boston, whom it threat- 
ened with ruin. Something was necessary to be 
done. The poor Bostonians, according to cus- 
tom, privately sent to their faithful allies at 
Hertford, to infuse into them an idea that their 
town ought to be the capital, and not New-Lon- 
don, which belonged to the dominion of Sassacus, 
who had murdered so many christians ; adding, 
that, if they would engage in such an attempt in 
favor of Hertford, the Boston merchants would 
supply them with goods cheaper than they could 
buy them at New-London. The good people 
of Hertford, forgetting their river was frozen five 
monti)s in the year, remembering how they had 
obtained their charter, hatmg Sassacus, and lov- 
ing self, .immediately gave into the designing Bos- 



204 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

tonians' suggestions, and refused to receive any 
more goods from New-London. The friendly 
Mynheers of New-York played off' a similar trick 
upon New-Haven, and promised to support that 
town as the capital of the colony. The plots 
succeeded. Contentions and quarrels arose among 
the three parties, the effects of which remain to 
this day. The merchants of New-London were 
obliged to quit Connecticut; and the trade of 
the province was chiefly divided between New- 
York and Boston, at cent, per cent, disadvantage 
to an ill-natured colony, and at the same ad- 
vantage to its cunning neighbors. ¥/hen party- 
spirit yields to self-interest, New-London will 
again become the emporium of Connecticut, 
where merchants will settle and import goods 
from foreign countries at o5l. per cent, extra 
profit to the consumers, and 15/. per cent, extra 
profit to themselves, and withal save as much in 
the exports from Connecticut by taking the full 
price and bounty of its goods at foreign markets, 
instead of yielding the same to the people of 
New-York and Boston, who have too long kept 
200,000 people as negroes upon their own farms, 
to support twice 20,000 artful citizens. Thus 
has Connecticut, by contention aiid folly, im- 
poverished, and kept in obscurity, the most fruit- 
ful colony in America, to support the fame and 
grandeur of Boston and New-York among the 
trading nations of Europe. When I view the 



MISTORY OF t'ONNECTlCLT. 2Q5' 

less fertile soil of Boston, the conscience of mer- 
chants, the pride of the pretended Gospel mi- 
nisters, the blindness of bigotry, and the mercan- 
tile ignorance of farmers, I forgive Boston, New- 
York, and Rhode Island, but condemn Connecti- 
cut. I will leave a legacy to the people of my na- 
tive country, which possibly may heal their divi- 
sions, and render them partial to their own pro- 
vince, as the Bostonians are to theirs. It consists 
of two lines : 

" But if men knaves and fools will be, 
They'll be ass-ridden by all three." 

Revenue and Expenditure. — In 1680, the 
whole corporation were estimated to be worth 
120,000/. They then had 30 small vessels, 26 
churches, and, as abovementioned, 20,000 inhabi- 
tants. If their value had increased only in pro- 
portion with the inhabitants, who, I have said, 
amounted to 200,000 in 1770, the corpo'-ation 
would then have been worth no more than 
1,200,000/. a sum not equal to IO5. per acre, 
though in a great measure cultivated, and sur- 
rounded with stone walls, which alone cost ten 
shillings by the rod ; but in that year, viz. 1770, 
land sold in Connecticut from four to fifty pounds 
per acre; their vessels also had increased to 
above 1,200; and the churches — least in propor- 
tion — to about 300. The true method, therefore, 
r*i forming the valuation of Connecticut in 1770, 

18 



^06 HISTORY OF eONNECTICUT. 

is, not by calculating upon its state in 1680, but 
by estimating the number of its acres, appreci- 
ating them by purchases then made, and adding 
a due allowance for the stock, &c. Now, Con- 
necticut has been reputed to contain 2,500,000 
solid acres, which, at the very moderate price of 
eight pounds each, are worth 20,000,000/. sterl. 
and 14,000, *00i. bring added as a reasonable al- 
lowance for stock, shipping, &c. the whole valu- 
ation of Connecticut would amount to 34,000,^ GOl. 
— The annual income, suj;posing the 2,500,000 
acres, and stock rented at 105. per acre, one with 
another, would be 1,250,000/. 

A list of rateables, called the General List, is 
the foundation upon which the revenue is raised 
in Connecticut, being the valuation of a man's 
property by the year. It is formed in the follow- 
ing manner : 

One acre of land, per ann. Ol.lOs, 

One house 2 

One horse 3 

One ox 3 

One swine 1 

One cow 3 

One two year old heifer 2 

One yearling do. 1 

One poll or male, between 16 and GO years 18 
One lawyer for his faculty 20 

One vessel of 100 tons 10 

£65 10 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 207 

Every person annually gives in his list, specify- 
ing the property he possesses, to the selectmen, 
who send the sum total of each to^vn to the Ge- 
neral Assembly, when a tax of one shilling, more 
or less, according to public exigencies, is imposed 
on each pound. 

According to the general list of the colony for 
1770, I have under-rated its annual worth, which 
then was fixed at 2,000,000/. for, though that list 
includes the poll tax of 18/. per hoiid for all males 
above sixteen and under sixty years of age, the 
faculty tax, and the tax on shipping, all which 
may amount to 600,000/. there nevertheless re- 
mains a surplus of 150,000/. above my calcula- 
tion. But supposing a tax of one shilling in the 
pound (the common colonial assessment) on 
1,250,000/. the produce will be 62,500/. exclu- 
sive of the poll, faculty, and other taxes. Small, 
however, as this assessment is, it has never been 
collected without much difficulty and clamor; 
yet the people lose, by trading with Boston, New- 
York, and Newport, in exports and imports, 
600,000/. annually — and that for nothing, but to 
oblige the traders of those towns, and disoblige 
one another. 



;0S HISTORY OF GONNECTICirr. 



The annual expenditure of the colony is 


: as fol- 


lows : 




Salary of the Governor 


£300 


Lieutenant Governor 


150 


Treasurer 


150 


Secretary 


150 


The twelve Assistants in Council 




with the Governor 


800 


146 Pi^epresentatives 


2,500 


300 Ministers, lOOZ. each 


30,000 


Allowance for contingencies 


28,450 



Total 62,500 

The above mentioned list of the colony, in- 
cluding the poll tax, &c. would afford 32,500Z. 
more for contingencies ! 

Religion and Government — Properly speak- 
ing, the Connecticutensians have neither, nor 
ever had : but, in pretence, they excel the whole 
world, except Boston and Spain. If I could re- 
collect the names of the multifarious religious 
sects among them, it might afford the reader a 
pleasant idea of the prolific invention of mankind. 
I shall mention a few of the most considerable : 
specifying the number of their congregations. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 209 



Episcopalians 
Scotch presbyterian 
Sandemanian 


Congregations 
73 
1 
3 


Ditto, bastard 


1 


Lutherans 


1 


Baptists 
Seven-day ditto 


6 
1 


Quakers 


4 


Davisonians 


1 


Separatists 
Rogereens 


40 
1 


Bowlists 


1 


Old Lights 


80 


New Lights 


87 



300 
An account of some of these sects is to be 
found in the history of Munster; but the Bowl- 
ists, Separatists, and Davisonians, are peculiar to 
the colony. The first allow of neither singing 
nor prayer ; the second permit only the Elect to 
pray ; and the third teach universal salvation, 
and deny the existence of a hell or devils. The 
presbyterians and episcopalians are held by all to 
be the enemies of Zion, and the American vine ; 
nay, the former are even worse hated than the 
churchmen, because they appear to be dissenters 
and are not genuine enemies to episcopacy, but 
" hold the truth in unrighteousness." Some tra- 

18* 



210 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

vellers have called the fanatical sects of Con- 
necticut by the general name of Legionists, be- 
cause they are many; and others have called 
them Pumguntums, Cantums, &c. because they 
groan and sing with a melancholy voice their 
prayers, sermons, and hymns. This disgusting 
tone has utterly excluded oratory from them ; 
and, did they not speak the English language in 
greater perfection than any other of the Ameri- 
cans, few strangers would disoblige them with 
their company. Their various systems are foun- 
ded upon those of Peters, Hooker, and Daven- 
port, of which I have already spoken ; yet the 
modern teachers have made so many new-fan- 
gled refinements in the doctrine and discipline of 
those patriarchs, and of one another, as render 
their passion for ecclesiastical innovation and ty- 
ranny equally conspicuous. But the whole are 
enveloped with superstition, which here passes 
for religion, as much as it does in Spain, France, 
or among the savages. I will instance that of an 
infmt in 1761. Some children were piling sand- 
heaps in Hertford, when a boy only four years 
old, hearing it thunder at a distance, left his 
companions and ran home to his mother, crying 
out, -' Mother ! mother ! give me my book, for I 
heard God speaking to me." His mother gave 
him his book, and he read A, B, C, D, E, F, G, 
4lc. then gave up his book, saying, " Here, 
mother, take my book ; I must go to my sand- 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 211 

houses ; now I am not afraid of all the thunder 
and lightning in the world." 

As to their government, we may compare it to 
the regularity of a mad mob in London, with 
this exception, the mob acts without law, and the 
colonists by law. They teach that legal right- 
eousness is not saving grace. Herein they are 
right ; but it appears they believe not their own 
doctrine ; for legal righteousness is their only 
shield and buckler ! In January county court, at 
Hertford only, 1768, there were above 3,000 suits 
on the docket; and there are four of those courts 
in a year, and perhaps never less suits at a court 
than 2,000. 

In the course of this work, my readers must 
necessarily have observed, in some degree, the ill 
eft'ects of the democratical constitution of Con- 
necticut. I would wish them to imagine, for I 
feel myself unable adequately to describe, the 
confusion, turbulence, and convulsion arising 
in a province, where not only every civil officer, 
from the Governor to the constable, but also every 
minister, is appointed as well as paid by the peo- 
ple, and faction and superstition are established. 
The clergy, lawyers, and merchants, or traders, are 
the three efficient parties which guide the helm of 
government. Of these the most powerful is the cler- 
gy : and, when no combinations are formed against 
them, they may be said to rule the whole province ; 
for they lead the women captive, and the women the 
men ; but when the clergy differ with the law- 



212 HISTORY OF CONNECTICiyT. 

yers and merchants, the popular tide turns. In 
like manner, when the clergy and lawyers con- 
tend with the merchants, it turns against these ; 
and it is the same, when the clergy and mer- 
chants unite against the lawyers. This fluctua- 
tion of power gives a strange appearance to the 
body politic at large. In Hertford, perhaps, the 
clergy and merchants are agreed and prevail ; in 
Weathersfield, the clergy and lawyers; in Middle- 
town, the lawyers and merchants ; and so on, 
again and again, throughout the colony. Thus 
the General Assembly becomes an assembly of 
contending factions, whose different interests and 
pursuits it is generally found necessary mutually 
to consult, in order to produce a suflicient coali- 
ti(in to proceed on the business of the state. — 
Vosipsos, pseudO'patres patrice^ veluti in speculo, 
aspicite ! — Sometimes, in quarrels between the 
merchants and lawyers of a particular parish, the 
minister is allowed to stand neuter; but, for the 
most part, he is obliged to declare on one side 
or the other ; he then, remembering whence he 
gets his bread, espouses that which appears to be 
the strongest, whether it be right or wrong, and 
his declaration never fails to ruin the adverse par- 
ty. En rabies vulgi! — I must beg leave to refer 
my readers to their own reflections upon such a 
system of government as I have here sketched 
out. 

The historians of New-England boast much of 
the happiness all parties there enjoy in not being 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 213 

subject, as in England, to any sacramental test 
by way of qualification for preferment in the state ; 
on which account, with peculiar propriety, it might 
be called a free country. The truth is, there 
never has been occasion for such a test-act. 
The assemblies never appointed any, because 
the magistrates are annually chosen by the people, 
of whom the far gre;iter part are church mem- 
bers; and this church-membership, in its conse- 
quences, destroys all liberty in a communicant, 
who is necessitated to swear to promote the in~ 
terests of that church he is a member of, and is 
duly informed by the minister what that interest 
is. The minister is the eye of conscience to all 
freemen in his parish; and tells them, that they 
will perjure themselves, if they give their votes to 
an episcopalian, or to any person who is not a 
member of the church of Sober Dissenters. Those 
freemen dare not go counter to the minister's 
dictate, any more tlian a true Mussulman dare 
violate the most sacred law of Mahomet. What 
need, then, is there of a civil test, when a re- 
ligious test operates much more powerfully, and 
will ever keep all churchmen, separatists, qua- 
kers, baptists, and other denominations, from 
governmf.'ntal employments, in Connecticut, and 
confine them to the Old and New Lights ; whilst 
the test-act in England prevents no dissenter 
from holding any civil or military commission 
whatsoever., — Upon this subject Mr. Neal has ex- 



214 HISTORY Op CONNECTieUT. 

erted himself in so signal a manner, that he ought 
to be styled the Champion of New-England. He 
represents, that there were two state factions in 
New-England : the one out of place he calls 
spies, and malcontents, chiefly because they had 
no share in the government. He adds, p. 615, 
"I can assure the world, that religion is no part 
of the quarrel ; for there is no sacramental test 
"for preferments in the state." Many people in 
New-England have not been able to assign a 
reason for Mr. NeaPs choosing to hide one truth 
by telling another, viz. that there was no statute 
in New-England to oblige a man to receive the 
sacrament among the Sober Dissenters, SiS a quali- 
fication for civil employment. This assertion is 
really true ; and when Mr. Neal speaks a truth, 
he above all men ought to have credit for it. But 
Mr. Neal well knew it to be truth also, that no 
man could be chosen a coporal in the train-band, 
unless he was a member of the church of the So- 
ber Dissenters, because then every voter was sub- 
ject to a religious test of the synod or con- 
sociation. Mr. Neal, indeed, seems to think that 
a civil test is heresy itself; but that a religious 
test is liberty, is gospel, and renders " all parties 
of christians in New-England easy, a happy peo- 
ple !" The reason, however, of his mufl^ing truth 
with truth, was, he wrote for the Old Lights, and 
against the New Lights, for hire ; the New Lights 
being the minority, and out of place in the state 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 215 

Those two sects differed about the coercive pow- 
er of the civil magistrate. The Old Lights held 
that ttie civil magistrate was a creature framed on 
purpose to support ecclesiastical censures with 
the sword of severity; but the New Lights main- 
tained, that the magistrate had no power or right 
to concern himself with church excommunication, 
and that excommunication was all the punishment 
anj one could undergo in this world according to 
the rules of the gospel. These were and always 
have been two great articles of faith in New- 
England ; nevertheless, Mr Neal says, he can as- 
sure the world, that "religion is no part of the 
quarrel !" I hope Mr. Neal did not mean to quib- 
ble, as the New Englanders generally do, by 
Jesuitism, viz. that religion is peaceable and ad- 
mits not of quarrels; and yet, if he did, he meant 
not a full representation of the matter: for he 
well knew that the difference m respect to the 
intent and power of magistrates was a religious 
point, and formed the partition-wall between the 
Old and New Lights. The civilians or magis- 
trates were too wise to countenance the New 
Lights, who promised little good to them ; while 
the Old Lights gave them a power of punishing, 
even with death, those whom they had anathema- 
tized, and who would not submit to their censures 
by penitence and confession. The Old Lights, 
in short, supported'the practice of the inquisitors 
of Spain, and Archbishop Laud; the ostensible 



21G HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

occasion of their ancestors flying from England 
to the wilderness of America. 

But Mr. Neal contented not himself with one 
mistake ; he added, *' that the people of New- 
England are a dutiful and loyal people." They 
never merited this character, and they always had 
too much honesty and religion to claim it. From 
the first they have uniformly declared, in church 
and state, that America is a new world, subject to 
the people residing in it ; and that none but ene- 
mies to the country would appeal from their 
courts to the King in Council. They never have 
prayed for any earthly king by name. They 
have always called themselves republicans, and 
enemies to kingly government, to temporal and 
spiritual lords They hate the idea of a parlia- 
ment, consisting of King, Lords, and Commons : 
they declare that the three branches should be 
but one, the King having only a single vote with 
the other members. Upon this point they have 
always quarrelled with all governors. They never 
have admitted one law of England to be in force 
among them, till passed by their assemblies. 
They have sent agents to fight against the Kings 
of England. They deny the jurisdiction of the 
Bishop of London, which extends over America 
by virtue of a royal patent. They hold Jesus to 
be their only King, whom if they love and obey, 
they will not submit, because they have not sub- 
mitted, to the laws of the King of Great Britain. 



HISTORV OF CONNECTICUT. 217 

Nr. Neal, furthermore, professes his want of 
conception why the Society for the Propagation 
of the Gospel in foreign parts should send mis- 
sionaries into New-England, when Oliver Crom- 
well had, in 1640, instituted a Society to propa- 
gate Christian knowledge there. Mr. Neal might 
have learnt the cause of this phenomenon from 
the charter granted to the first mentioned Society 
by King William III. who was a friend to civil 
and christian liberty, and who endeavored to sup- 
press the intolerable persecutions in his days pre- 
vailing in New-England. But, besides Mr. Neal, 
could not but know that there were many church- 
men in New-England desirous of the use of the 
liturgy and discipline of the English church ; and 
for what reason should not they have ministers of 
their own persuasion, as well' as the sober and 
conscientious dissenters ? I hope my readers 
will not think me a partial advocate for the church 
of England, which, perhaps, has lost the oppor- 
tunity of civilizing, christianizing, and mode- 
rating the burning zeal of the dissenters in New- 
England, who were honest in their religion, mere- 
ly by the sinful omission of not sending a bishop 
to that country, who would have effected greater 
things among them than an army of 50,000 men. 
I avow myself to be liberal minded towards all sects 
and parties ; and, if 1 had power, I would convert 
all sorts of ministers into popes, cardinals, pre- 
lates^ dominis, potent presbyters, and rich qua- 

19 



218 HISTORY OP CONNECTICUT. 

kers, that the world might be excused from hear* 
ing again of preaching, defamation, insurrections, 
and spiritual jurisdictions, which result more from 
poverty, pride, avarice, and ambition, than the 
love of peace and Christianity. It has been said 
by the deists and other politicians, that ministers, 
by preaching, have done more hurt than good in 
the christian world. If the idea will hold in any 
part, it will in New-England, where each sect 
preaches, for Gospel, policy and defamation of its 
neighbor ; whence the lower classes think, that 
Christianity consists in defending their own pe- 
culiar church and modes, and subverting those of 
others, at any rate ; while the higher ranks value 
religion and the Gospel as laws of a foreign coun- 
try, and the clergy as merchants or pawwawers, 
subtle, cruel, and greedy of richfes and dominion 
over all people. For this reason, the savages 
have taken an aversion to the protestant religion, 
and say they had rather follow Hobbamockow, 
and the Roman priests, than New-England chris- 
tians, who persecute one another, and killed their 
ancestors with a pocky Gospel. With scorn they 
cry out, " We value not your Gospel, which shews 
so many roads to Kicktang : some of them must 
be crooked, and lead to Hobbamockow. We 
liad, therefore, better continue Indians, like ouf 
ancestors ; or be catholics, who tell us of only one 
way to Kicktang, or the invisible God." 

Laws. — A stranger in the colony, upon hearing 



HISTORY OP CONNECTICUT. 219 

ihe inhabitants talk of religion, liberty, and jus- 
tice, would be induced to believe that the chris- 
tian and civil virtues were their distinguishing 
characteristics ; but he soon finds his mistake on 
fixing his abode among them. Their laws grind 
the poor, and their religion is to oppress the op- 
pressed. The poll tax is unjust and cruel. The 
poor man is compelled to pay for his head I8s, 
per ann. work four days on the highways, serve in 
the militia four days, and pay three shillings for 
his hut without a window in it. The best house 
and richest man in the colony pays no more ! 

The law is pretended to exempt episcopalians, 
anabaptists, quakers, and others, from paying 
rates to the Sober Dissenters ; but at the same 
time, gives the Sober Dissenters power to tax them 
for minister, school, and town rates, by a general 
vote ; and no law or court can put asunder what 
the town has joined together. — The law also ex- 
empts from paying to Sober Dissenters all church- 
men, who live so near as they can and do attend 
the church. But hence, if a man is sick, and doe^ 
not attend more than twenty-six Sabbaths m a 
year, he becomes legally a Sober Dissenter ; and, 
if the meeting lies between him and the church, 
he does not live so near the church as he can at- 
tend, because it is more than a Sabbath-day's 
journey, and therefore unnecessary travel.* 



* Supplement, Note (d) 



220 HISTORY Ot CONNECTICUT. 

The law prescribes whipping, stocks and fines, 
for such as do not attend public worship on the 
Sabbath. The grand jury complains, and the 
justice inflicts the punishment. This has been 
the practice many years. About 1750, Mr. Pitt, 
a churchman, was whipped, for not attending 
meeting. Mr. Pitt was an old man. The epis- 
copal clergy wrote to England, complaining of 
this cruel law. The Governor and Council im- 
mediately broke the justice who punished Mr. 
Pitt, and wrote to the Bishop of London that 
they had done so, as a mark of their disapproba- 
tion of the justice's conduct, and knew not what 
more they could do. This apology satisfied the 
Bishop; and the next year the same Governor 
and Council restored the justice to his ofiice : 
however, quakers and anabaptists only were 
whipped afterwards. 

Formerly, when a Sober Dissenter had a suit in 
law against a cherchman, every juryman of the 
latter persuasion was by the court removed from 
the jury, and replaced by Sober Dissenters. The 
reason assigned for this extraordinary conduct 
was, "that justice and impartiality might take 
place." The episcopalians, quakers, and other 
sects, not of the Sober Dissenters, were not ad- 
mitted to serve as jurymen in Connecticut till 
about 1750. Such of them, whose annual worth 
is rated at not less than forty pounds in the gene- 
ral list, have enjoyed the list of voting for civil 



HTSTORY ©F CONNECTICUT. 221 

officers a much longer term ; but from parish 
concerns they are all still totally excluded. 

Other laws I have occasionally animadverted' 
upon in the course of this v^ork ; and a specimen 
of the Blue Laws and of the various courts are in- 
serted. 

Nothing can reflect greater disgrace upon the 
colony than the number of suits in all the county 
courts, amounting in the whole to between 20 and 
30,000 annually ; the greatest part of which are 
vexatiously commenced from expectations ground- 
ed upon the notorious instability of the judges' 
opinions and decisions. 

This spirit of litigation, which distracts the pro- 
vince in general, is, however, a blessing to the 
judges and lawyers. The court has one shilling 
for every action called, and twenty shillings for 
those that come to trial ; and the fee to each law- 
yer is twenty shillings, whether the action be 
tried or not ; besides various other expenses. 
There are near as manv suits of conscience be- 
fore the justices of peace, and ministers, and dea- 
cons ; so that the sum annually expended in law* 
in the whole colony is amazing. It was not with- 
out reason, therefore, that the judges, the law- 
yers, the ministers, and deacons, the sheriifs, and 
constables, opposed the stamp-act with all their 
might. They told the people, that, if this act 
took place, their liberties would be destroyed, 



222 ' HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

and they would be tried by King's judges without 
a jury. 

The singular nature of some of the suite entitle 
them to particular notice. When the ice and 
floods prevail in the great river Connecticut, they 
frequently cut off large pieces of ground on one 
side, and carry them over to the opposite. By 
this means the river is every year changing its 
bed, to the advantage of some persons, and the 
disadvantage of others. This has proved the 
source of perplexing law-suits, and will most like- 
ly continue to produce the same effects so long 
as the demi-annual assemblies remain in the colo- 
ny; for the judgment of the Assembly in May is 
rescinded by that in October, and so vice versa» 
Thus a law-suit in Connecticut is endless, to the 
ruin of both plaintiff and defendant. The coun- 
ty and the superior courts, also, in different years^ 
give different judgments; and the reason is the 
popular constitution of the colony, whereby dif- 
ferent parlies prevail at different times, each of 
whom carefully undoes what the others have 
done. Thus the glorious uncertainty of law ren- 
ders the possession of property in Connecticut 
extremely precarious. The question, however^ 
touching the lands removed from place to place 
by the floods and ice, requires the skill of both, 
juries and casuists. The most simple case of the 
kind that has been communicated to me, is the 
f6l lowing.: 



HISTORY OF CQNNECTICUa*. 22-8 

A piece of land belonging to A. in Springfield, 
with a house, &c. standing upon it, was removed 
by the flood to another town, and settled on land 
belonging to W. A. claimed his house and land, 
and took possession of them; whereupon W. 
sued A. for a trespass, and the court ejected A. 
But A. afterwards obtained a reversion of the 
judgment; when W. again sued A. and got a 
decree that A. should remove his own land off 
from the land of W. or pay W. for his land. 
Further litigation ensued, and both parties plead- 
ed that the act of God injured no man according 
to the English law. The judges said, the act of 
God in this case equally fell upon A. and W. 
The dispute rests in statu quo, the jurisprudence 
of Connecticut not having yet taught mankind 
what is jufit and legal in this important contro-^ 
versy. 

Supposing the flood had carried A.'s ship or 
raft on W.'s land, the ship or raft would still be- 
long to A. and W. could recover no damage ; but 
then A. must take away his ship or raft in a rea- 
sonable time. Yet in the case where an island 
or point of land is removed by the waters, or an 
earthquake, upon a neighboring shore, — ^. ought 
not the Islanders to keep possession of the super- 
fices ? This may be a new case in Europe. 

Manners and Customs. — Gravity and a serious 
.deportment, together with shyness and bashful- 
jiess, generally attend the first communieatjons 



324 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

with the inhabitants of Connecticut; but, after a* 
short acquaintance, they become very lamiliar 
and inquisitive about news, — Who are you, 
whence come you, where going, what is your 
business, and what your rehgion ? They do not 
consider these and similar questions as imper- 
tinent, and consequently expect a civil answer. 
When the stranger has satisfied their curiosity, 
they will treat him with all the hospitality in their 
power, and great caution must be observed to get 
quit of them and their houses without giving them 
offence. If the stranger has cross and difficult 
roads to travel, they will go with him till all dan- 
ger is past, without fee or reward. The stranger 
ilas nothing to do but civilly to say, " Sir, I thank 
you, and will call upon you when I return." He 
must not say, "God bless you, I shall be glad to 
see you at my house," unless he is a minister; 
b('cause they hold, that the words " God bless 
you" should not be spoken by common people ; 
and, " I shall be glad to see you at my house," 
they look upon as an insincere compliment paid 
them for what they do out of duty to the stranger. 
Their hospitality is highly , exemplary ; they are 
sincere in it, and reap great pleasure by reflect- 
ing that perhaps they have entertained angels. 
The Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, in one of his 
sermons, gave them the following character : " I 
have found," said he, " the people of Connecticut 
the wisesjt of any upoji the continent — they are 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 225 

the best friends and the worst enemies — they are 
hair-brained bigots on all sides — and they may 
be compared to the horse and mule without bit 
and bridle. In other colonies I have paid for my 
food and lodging ; but could never spend one 
penny in fruitful Connecticut, whose banks flow 
with milk and honey, and whose sons and daugh- 
ters never fail to feed and refresh thtj weary tra- 
veller without money and without price." 

On Saturday evenings the people look sour and 
sad : on the Sabbath they appear to have lost 
their dearest friends, and are almost speechless, 
and walk softly ; they even observe it with more 
exactness than ever did the Jews. A quaker 
preacher told them, with much truth, that they 
worshipped the Sabbath, and not the God of the 
Sabbath. Those hospitable people without cha- 
rity condemned the quaker as a blasphemer of 
the holy Sabbath, fined, tarred and feathered him, 
put a rope about his neck, and plunged him into 
the sea: but he escaped with life, though he was 
above seventy years of age. In 1750, an episco- 
pal clergyman, born and educated in England, 
who had been in holy orders above twenty years, 
once broke their sabbatical law, by combing a 
discomposed lock of hair on the top of his wig ; 
at another time by making a humming noise, 
which they called a whistling ; at a third time, by 
walking too fast from church ; at a fourth by run- 
ning into church when it" rained; at a fifth by 



226 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

walking in his garden, and picking a banch of 
grnpes : for which several crimes he was com- 
plained of by the grand jury, had warrants grant- 
ed against him, was seized, brought to trial, and 
paid a considerable sum of money. At last, over- 
whelmed with persecution and vexation, he cried 
out," No Br!ton, nay no Jew, should assume any 
public character in Connecticut, till he has served 
an apprenticeship often years in it; for I have been 
here seven years, and strictly observed the Jewish 
law concerning the Sabbath, yet find myself re- 
miss in respect to the perfect laic of liberty /" 

The people are extremely ibnd of strangers 
past-ing through the colony, but very averse to 
foreigners settling among them ; which few have 
done without ruin to their characters and fortunes 
hy detraction and law-suits, unless recommended 
as men of grace by some known and revered re- 
publican protestant in Europe. The following 
story may be amusing : 

^ An English gentleman, during a short residence 
in a certain town, had the good luck to receive 
some civilities from the Deacon, Minister, and 
Justice. The Deacon had a daughter, without 
beauty, but sensible and rich. The Briton (for 
that was the name he went by,) having received a 
present from the West Indies, of some pine ap- 
ples and sweatmeats, sent his servant with part of 
it to the Deacon's daughter, to whom, at the 
same time he addressed a complimentary note. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 22t 

begging Miss would accept the pine apples and 
sweatmeats, and wishing he might be able to 
make her a better present. Miss, on reading the 
note, was greatly alarmed, and exclaimed " Ma- 
ma ! Mama ! Mr. Briton has sent me a love-let- 
ter." The mother read the note, and shewed it 
to the Deacon ; and, after due consideration, both 
agreed in pronouncing it a love-letter. The law- 
yer, justice, and parson, were then sent for, who 
in council weighed every word in the note, to- 
gether with the golden temptation which the la- 
dy possessed, and were of opinion that the writer 
was in love, and that the note was a love-letter, 
but worded so carefully that the law could not 
punish Briton for attempting to court Miss with- 
out obtaining her parents' consent. The parson 
wrung his hands, rolled up his eyes, shrugged up 
his shoulders, groaned out his hypocritical grief, 
and said, " Deacon, I hope you do not blame me 
for having been the innocent cause of your know- 
ing this imprudent and haughty Briton. There 
is something very odd in all the Britons ; but I 
thought this man had some prudence and modes- 
ty : however, Deacon," putting his hand on his 
breast, and bowing with a pale, deceitful face, 
"I shall in future shun all the Britons, for they 
are all strange creatures." The lawyer and jus- 
tice made their apologies, and were sorry that 
Briton did not consider the quality of the Dea- 
con's daughter before he wrote his letter. Miss, 



228 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

all apprehension and tears, at finding no punish- 
ment could reach Briton in the course of law, 
cried out to her counsellors, " Who is Briton ? 
Am I not the Deacon's daughter? What have I 
done that he should take such liberties with me r 
Is he not the natural son of some priest or found- 
ling? Ought he not to be exposed for his assu- 
rance to the Deacon's daughter?" 

Her words took effect. The council voted that 
they would show their contempt of Briton by neg- 
lecting him for the time to come. On his return 
home, the parson, after many and great signs of 
surprize, informed his wife of the awful event 
which had happened by the imprudence of Briton. 
She soon communicated the secret to her sister 
gossips, prudently cautioning them not to report 
it as from her. But, not content with that, the 
parson himself went among all his acquaintance, 
shaking his head and saying " O Sirs ! have you 
heard of the strange conduct of friend Briton ? — 
how he wrote a love-letter, and sent it with some 
pine-apples to the Deacon's daughter? My wife 
and I had a great friendship for Briton, but cannot 
see him any more." Thus the afflicted parson 
told this important tale to every one except Briton, 
who, from his ignorance of the story, conducted 
himself in his usual manner towards his supposed 
friends, though he observed they had a show of 
haste and business whenever he met with any of 
them. Happily for Briton, he depended not on 



HISTORY OV CONNECTICUT. 229 

the Deacon, Minister, or Colony, for his support. 
At last, a Scotchman heard of the evil tale, and 
generously told Briton of it, adding that the par- 
son was supposed to be in a deep decline merely 
from the grief and fatigue he had endured in 
spreading it. Briton thajiked the Scotchman, and 
called on the friendly parson to know the particu- 
lars of his offence. The parson, with sighs, 
bows, and solemn smirkings, answered " Sir, the 
fact is, you wrote a love-letter to the Deacon's 
daughter, without asking her parents' consent, 
which has given great offence to ihat lady, and to 
all her acquaintance, of whom I and my wife 
have the honor to be reckoned a part." Briton 
kept his temper. " So then," said he, " I have 
offended you by my insolent note to the Deacon's 
daughter! I hope my sin is venial. Pray, Sir, 
have you seen my note?" "Yes," replied the 
parson, " to my grief and sorrow : I could not 
have thought you so imprudent, had I not seen 
and found the note to be your own writintr." 
•'How long have you known of this offence?" 
"Some months." "Why, Sir, did you not sea- 
sonably admonish me for this crime ?" " I was 
so hurt and grieved, and my friendship so great, 
I could not bear to tell you." Mr. Briton then 
told the parson, that his hiendship was so fine 
and subtle, it was invisible to an English eye i 
and that Gospel ministers in England did not 
prove their friendship by telling calumnious sto. 

20 



ioO HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

lies to every body but the peson coricernecl. 
" But I suppose," added he, " this is genuine 
New-England friendship, and merits thanks more 
than a supple-jack !" The parson, with a leering 
look, sneaked away towards his wife ; and Briton 
left the colony without any civil or ecclesiastical 
punishment, telling the Scotchman that the Dea- 
con's daughter had money, and the parson faith 
without eyes, or he should never have been ac- 
cused of making love to one who was naturally 
so great an enemy to Cupid. Of such or worse 
sort being the reception foreign settlers may ex- 
pect from the inhabitants of Connecticut, it is no 
wonder that few or none choose to venture among 
,if<&'them. 

The custom of settling and dismissing a sober 
dissenting minister is very singular. All the pa- 
rishioners meet and vote to apply to the associa- 
tion for a candidate ; and one is accordingly sent. 
If he pleases, the people vote to give him a call ; 
if he accepts the call, the actual communicants, 
and they alone, make the covenant between him 
and them as Christ's church, and thus they are 
mamed to him. After the candidate is ordained, 
others, by acknowledging and swearing to support 
the covenant, become married to him also. — 
£N. B. Baptism is not suihcient to take them out 
of their natural state.] The call is an invitation 
from the parishioners to the candidate to take 
upon him the ministerial office of their church, 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 231 

on condition that he be allowed 300Z. or 40- ^ 
settlement, and, perhaps, ]y)Ql. salary, besides 
wood, &.c: &c. during his residence among them 
in that capacity. The candidate, after lookiiJ*r 
round him, and finding no better terms oifered 
from any other parish, answers in this manner : 
•'Brethren and friends, I have considered of your 
call ; and after many fastings and prayers, I find 
it to be the call of God, and close with your of- 
fer." The church then appoints a day for hi- or- 
dination, and the ministers who shall assist in the 
ceremony, which is as follows: 1. The meeting 
is opened with a hymn : 2. Some one makes a 
prayer : 3. Another hymn succeeds : 4. A ser- 
mon : 5. Another prayer : 6. The covenant is 
read : 7. The prayer of consecration, with impo- 
sition of hands by the ministers : 8. The right 
hand of fellowship, which conveys that half of 
ministerial power which I have already spoken of 
as communicated by the churches : 9. The 
charge; that is, to behave well in the office 
whereto God has called him : 10. A prayer : 11. 
Another hymn: U. The young minister dismisses 
with his benediction. Numerous as the ceremo- 
nies are in a minister's ordination, there are but 
few judged necessary in dismissing him— a majo- 
rity of the church is enough to turn the minister 
from bed and board, or, in their languaoe, " to 
divorce him ;"— which happens more frequently 
than is decent. The minister has no remedy but 



2^ HISTORY OP CONNEe!TICl?T. 

in appealing to the association, which step enti- 
tles him to his salary till dismissed by ihai power- 
ful body. 

Incontinency, intemperance, lying, and idleness, 
are the common accusations brought against the- 
minister, but seldom founded in truth, and yet al- 
ways proved by knights of the post. However, the 
minister carries off his settlement, in case he is 
dismissed for immoralities, but not if he turns 
churchman; then his old parishioners are mean 
enough to sue for the settlement. A recent in- 
stance of this kind happened at New-London, 
where the minister. Doctor Mather Byles, desired 
a dismission, which was given him ; but, finding 
the Doctor's design was to become a churchman, 
the people demanded the settlement given him 
twelve years before. The Doctor, with a spirit 
worthy of himself and his venerable ancestors, re- 
turned the money with " You are welcome to it, 
since it proves to the world that you could not 
accuse me of any thing more agreeable to unge- 
nerous minds." 

The manner of visiting the sick in this province 
is more terrible than charitable. The minister 
demands of the sick if he be converted, when, 
and where ? If the answers are conformable to 
the system of the minister, it is very well ; if not, 
the sick is given over as a non-elect, and no ob- 
ject of prayer. Another minister is then sent for, 
who asks if the sick be willing to die — if he hates 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 233 

God — if he be willing to be damned, if it please 
God to damn him ? Should he answer No, this 
minister quits him as did the former. Finally the 
sick man dies, and so falls out of their hands into 
better. 

Amidst all the darkness of superstition that sur- 
rounds the state, the humanity it shows to poor 
strangers, seized with sickness in the colony, or 
to such persons as are shipwrecked upon its 
coasts, shines with distinguished lustre. These 
unfortunate sufierers are immediately provided 
with necessaries of every kind by order of the se- 
lectmen, whose expenses are reimbursed out of 
the colony treasury. 

Thus is laudably employed a part of the money 
allowed for contingencies : but another part is 
consumed in a very different manner. It fre- 
quently happens that whenever the episcopalians 
become so numerous in a parish, as to gain the 
ascendancy over the Sober Dissenters, and the 
latter cannot, by their own strength, either destroy 
the episcopal, or support their own churcli^, the 
Governor and Council, with the advice of the 
Consociation, kindly relieve them with an annual 
grant, out of the public treasury, sometimes to the 
amount of the whole sum paid into it by every 
denomination in the parish. An act of charity 
of this kind lately took place at Chelsea, in Nor- 
wich, where the Sober Dissenters were few and 
poor, and without a meeting house or minister; 

20* 



234 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

SO that they were obliged to walk a mile to a 
meeting, or go to church. The young people 
chose the latter, which alarmed the Sober Dissen- 
ters to such a degree, that they applied for and 
obtained from the generous Governor and his vir- 
tuous Council dOOl. per annum out of the public 
treasury, besides the duties on the vessels of 
churchmen at that port. This largition enabled 
them to build a meeting and settle a minister. 
When the churchmen complained of this abuse of 
public money, the Governor answered, " The 
Assembly has the same right to support Chris- 
tianity, as the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in foreign parts, or the Parliament of Great 
Britain." 

The murmurs of the people, on the collection 
of the revenue, bespeak embezzlements of another 
kind. It should seem that they believed the 
General Assembly to be in the same predicament 
the Devil thought Job was, when he said, ^'Doth 
Job serve God for noughtV^ 

Estates in Connecticut pass from generation to 
generation by gavelkind ; so that there are fe<v 
persons, except of the laboring class, who have 
not freeholds of their own to cultivate. A gene- 
ral mediocrity of station being thus constitution- 
ally promoted, it is no wonder that the rich man 
is despised, and the poor man's blessing is his 
poverty. In no part of the world are les petits 
and Us grands so much upon a par as here, where 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 235 

none of the people are destitute of the convenien- 
ces of life, and the spirit of independence. From 
infancy, their education as citizens points out no 
distinction between licentiousness and liberty; 
and their religion is so muffled with superstition, 
self-love, and provincial enmity, as not yet to 
have taught them that humility and respect for 
others, which from others they demand. Not- 
withstanding these effects of the levelling plan, 
there are many exceptions to be found in the pro- 
vince, of gentlemen of large estates and generous 
principles. 

The people commonly travel on horseback ; 
and the ladies are capable of teaching their 
neighbors the art of horsemanship. There are 
few coaches in the colony : but many chaises and 
whiskeys. In winter, the sleigh is used ; a vehi- 
cle drawn by two horses, and carrying six persons 
in its box, which hangs on four posts standing on 
two steel sliders, or large skates. 

Dancing, fishing, hunting, skating, and riding 
in sleighs on the ice, are all the amusements al- 
lowed in this colony. 

Smuggling is rivetted in the constitutions and 
practice of the inhabitants of Connecticut, as 
much as superstition and religion ; and their pro- 
vince is a storehouse for the smugglers of the 
neighboring colonies. They conscientiously stu- 
dy to cheat the King of those duties which, they 
say God apd nature never intended should be 



^36 HISTORY OF C0NNECT1C¥T. 

paid. From the governor down to the tithing^ 
man, wlio are sworn to support the laws, they will 
aid smugglers, resist collectors, and mob inform- 
ers. This being a popular government, all the 
officers are appointed by the free-holders. There 
are very severe laws against bribery. The candi- 
dates are not suffered to give a dmner, or a glass 
of cider, on the day of election, to a voter. In- 
deed, bribery is the next greatest crime to the 
breach of the Sabbath ; yet open bribery as es- 
tablished by custom immemorial in Rhode-Island, 
is more praise-worthy than the practice of Con- 
necticut. I will give the reader some idea of the 
mode in which an election is managed in Con- 
necticut. All the voters in a township convene 
in the town meeting-house. One of the minis- 
ters, after prayers, preaches from some such text 
as, " Jabez was more honorable than all his hreth- 
reny The people keep their seats, while the 
constables take their votes in a box; and. if a 
voter has not his vote written, the constable gives 
him one. So Jabez is elected ; and the meeting 
is coiicluded with a prayer of thanks to the Lord 
God of Israel for " turning the hearts of his people 
against the enemies of Zion, and for uniting them 
in Jabez, the man after his own heart." The 
manner in which the preacher treats his text^ 
will more particularly appear from the animadver- 
sion of a certain qu*iker on one of these occasions. 
*' Friend," said he to the pedagogue, "I do thee 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 2S7 

BD wrong in telling thee that thou hast prayed 
and preached against bribery, but forgot to keep 
thy tongue from speaking evil against thy neigh- 
bor. Dost thou think the Lord will regard thy 
preaching so much as the voters whom thou dost 
call freemen ? If thou believest it, thou hast bribed 
not only the people, but the Lord also, to reject 
Ebenezer and Benjamin." The preacher called 
upon the constable to take away this babbler, and 
open the meeting; which was done, and Ebe- 
nezer and Benjamin were rejected by the voters. 
The men, in general, throughout the province, 
are tall, stout, and robust. The greatest care is 
taken of the limbs and bodies of infants, which 
are kept strait by means of a board ; a practice 
learnt of the Indian women, who abhor all crook- 
ed people : so that deformity is here a rarity. 
' Another custom derived from the Indians is, to 
welcome a new-born infant into the world with 
urine and honey, the effects of which are wonder- 
ful; and hence it is that at groanings there are 
always a little boy and a rattle-snake's skin, the 
latter of which prevents numbness and the cramp. 
The women are fair, handsome, genteel./ They 
have, indeed, adopted various customs of the In- 
dian women ; but cannot learn, like them, how 
to support the pains of child-bearing without a 
groan. A^aturalists and surgeons have not been 
able to assign a reason why a negro woman should 
have a hundred pains, a white woman ten, and 



238 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

an Indian none. Some have said that the fatigues 
and hardships which the negroes endure, are 
the cause ; but the Indians undergo many more : 
others have said it is owing to the change of 
chmate; but this is suppletory : — while tiiC en- 
thusiastic divines attribute it to the sin of Eve, 
and to the curse laid on the Cana: nites. The 
Deists ask those divines, if Eve was not the 
common mother of the white, black, and cop- 
per colored women ; and how it appears that ne- 
groes are the descendants of the people of Ca- 
naan ? Their answer is, all nature is mystery. 
.^'' The women of Connecticut are strictly virtu- 
ous, and to be compared to the prude rather than 
the European polite lady. Tiicy are not permit- 
ted to read plays ; cannot converse about whist, 
quadrille, or operas; but will freely talk upon the 
subjects of history, geography, and the mathe- 
matics. They are great casuists, and polemical 
divines; and I have known not a few of them so 
well skilled in Greek and Latin, as often to put 
to the blush learned gentlemen. 

Notwithstanding ti»e modesty of the females is 
such, that it would be accounted the greatest 
rudeness for a gentleman to speak before a lady 
of a garter, knee, or leg, yet it is thought but a 
piece of civility to ask her to bundle; a custom 
as old as the first settlement in 1G34. It is cer- 
tainly innocent, virtuous, and prudent; or the 
puritans would not have permitted it to prevail 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 23& 

umong their offspring, for whom in general they 
would suffer crucifixion. Children brought up 
with the chastest ideas, with so much religion, as 
to believe that the omniscient God sees them in 
the dark, and that angels guard them when ab- 
sent from their parents, will not, nay, cannot, act 
a wicked thing. People who are influenced more 
by lust, than a serious ftith in God, who is too 
pure to behold iniquity with approbation, ought 
never to bundle. If any man, thus a stranger to 
the love of virtue, of God, and the christian reli* 
gion, should bundle with a young lady in New^ 
England, and behave himself unseemly towards 
her, he must first melt her into passion, and ex- 
pel heaven, death, and hell, from her mind, or he 
will undergo the chastisement of negroes turned 
mad — if he escape with life, it will be owing to 
the parents flying from their bed to protect him. 
The Indians, who had this method of courtship, 
when the English arrived among them in 1634, 
are the most chaste set of people in the woild. 
(/oncubinage and fornication are vices, none of 
them are addicted to, except such as forsake the 
laws of Hobbamockow and turn christians. The 
savages have taken many female prisoners, car- 
ried them back three hundred miles into their 
country, and kept them several years, and yet not 
a single instance of their violating the laws of 
chastity has ever been known. This cannot be 
said of the French, or of the English, whenever 



"240 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

Indian or other women have fallen into their 
hands. I am no advocate for temptation; yet 
must say, that bundling has prevail )d 160 years 
in New-England, and, I verily believe, with ten 
times more chastity than the sitting on a sofa. I 
had daughters, and speak from near forty years' 
experience. Bimdlmg takes place only in cold 
seasons of the year — the sofa in summer is more 
dangerous than the bed in winter. About the 
year 1756, Boston, Salem, Newport, and New- 
York, resolving to be more polite than their an- 
cestors, forbade their daughters bundling on the 
bed with any young men whatever, and intro- 
duced a sofa to render courtship more palatable 
and Turkish. Whatever it was owing to, whe- 
ther to the sofa^ or any uncommon excess of the 
feud'esprit, there went abroad a report, that this 
rqffinage produced more natural consequences 
than all th" bundling among the boors with their 
rurales pedantes, through every village in New- 
England besides. 

In 1776, a clergyman from one of the polite 
towns, went into the country, and preached 
against the unchristian custom of young men and 
maidens lying together on a bed. He was no 
sooner out of the church, than attacked by a 
shoal of good old women, with " Sir, do you think 
we and our daughters arc naughty, bec?;use we 
allow ofbundlingV^ "You lead yourselves into 
temptation by it." They all replied at once, 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 241 

" Sir, have you been told thus, or has experience 
taught it you ?" The Levite began to lift up his 
eyes, and to consider of his situation, and bow- 
ing, said " I have been told so." The ladies una 
voce., bawled out, " Your informants, Sir, we con- 
clude, are those city ladies who prefer a sofa to a 
bed : we advise you to alter your sermon, by sub- 
stituting the word sofa for bundling, and on your 
return home, preach it to them : for experience 
has told us that city folks send more children into 
the country without fathers or mothers to own 
them, than are born among us ; therefore, you 
see, a sofa is more dangerous than a bed." The 
poor priest, seemingly convinced of his blunder, 
exclaimed, "J\^ec vitia nostra, nee remedia pati 
possumus,^^ hoping hereby to get rid of his guests : 
but an old matron pulled off her spectacles, and, 
looking the priest in the face like a Roman hero- 
ine, said, ^^JVoliputare me hcBC auribus tuis dareJ'"' 
Others cried out to the priest to explain his Latin. 
" The English," said he, '^ is this ; Wo is me that 
I sojourn in Meseck, and dwell in the tents of 
Kedar !" One pertly retorted, Gladii decussati 
sunt gemina presbyteri clavis. The priest con- 
fessed his error, begged pardon, and promised 
never more to preach against bundling, or to 
think amiss of the custom ; the ladies generously 
forgave him, and went away. 

It may seem very strange to find this custom of 
bundling in bed attended with so much innocence 

21 



242 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

in New-England, while in Europe it is thought 
not safe or scarcely decent to permit a young 
man and maid to be together in private any 
where. But in this quarter of the old world the 
Yiciousness of the one, and the simplicity of the 
other, are the result merely of education and ha- 
bit. It seems to be a part of heroism, among the 
polished nations of it, to sacrifice the virtuous 
fair-one, whenever an opportunity offers, and 
thence it is concluded that the same principles 
actuate those of the new world. It is egregious- 
ly absurd to judge of all countries by one. In 
Spain, Portugal, and Italy, jealousy reigns ; in 
France, England, and Holland, suspicion ; in the 
West and East Indies, lust; in New-England, 
superstition. These four blind deities govern 
Jews, Turks, Christians, Infidels, and Heathen. 
Superstition is the most amiable. She sees no 
vice with approbation but persecution, and self- 
preservation is the cause of her seeing that. My 
insular readers will, I hope, believe me, when I 
tell them, that I have seen, in the West Indies, 
naked boys and girls, some fifteen or sixteen 
years of age, waiting at table and at tea, even 
when twenty or thirty virtuous English ladies 
were in the room ; who were under no more 
embarrassment at such an awful sight in the eyes 
of English people that have not travelled abroad, 
than they would have been at the sight of so many 
servants in livery. Shall we censure the ladies 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 243 

of the West Indies as vicious above all their sex, 
on account of this local custom? By no means; 
for long experience has taught the world that the 
West Indian white ladies are virtuous prudes. 
Where superstition reigns, fanaticism will be mi- 
nister of state; and the people, under the taxa- 
tion of zeal, will shun what is commonly called 
vice with ten times more care than the polite and 
civilized christians, who know what is right and 
what is wrong from reason and revelation. Hap- 
py would it be for the world, if reason and revela- 
tion were suffered to control the mind and pas- 
sions of the great and wise men of the earth, as 
superstition does that of the simple and less po- 
lished ! When America shall erect societies for 
the promotion of chastity in Europe, in return for 
the establishment of European arts in the Ameri- 
can capitals, then Europe will discover that there 
is more christian philosophy in American bund- 
ling than can be found in the customs of nations 
more polite. 

I should not have said so much about bundling, 
had not a learned Divine* of the English church 
published his Travels through some parts of 
America, wherein this remarkable custom is re- 
presented in an unfavorable light, aud as prevai^l- 
ing among the loioer class of people. The truth 
is, the custom prevails among all classes, to the 

*Pr. Burnaby. 



244 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

great honor of the country, its religion, and la- 
dies. The virtuous may be tempted; but the 
tempter is despised. Why it should be thought 
incredible for a young man and a young woman 
innocently and virtuously to lie down together in 
a bed with a great part of their clothes on, I can- 
not conceive. Human passions may be alike in 
every region ; but religion, diversified as it is, 
operates differently in different countries. Upon 
the whole, had I daughters now, I would venture 
to let them bundle on the bed, or even on the 
sofa, after a proper education, sooner than adopt 
the Spanish mode of forcing young people to 
prattle only before the lady's mother the chitchat 
of artless lovers. CouM the four quarters of the 
world produce a more chaste, exemplary, and 
beautiful company of wives and daughters than 
are in Connecticut, I should not have remaining 
one favorable sentiment for the province. But 
the soil, the rivers, the ponds, the ten thousand 
landscapes, together with the virtuous and lovely 
women which now adorn the ancient kingdoms 
of Connecticote, Sassacus, and Quinnipiog, would 
tempt me into the highest wonder and admira- 
tion of them, could they once be freed of the 
skunk, the moping-owl, rattle-snake, and fanatic 
christian. 

My readers will naturally be desirous of infor- 
mation in what manner the people of Connecti- 
cut conducted themselves in regard to the stamp- 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 245 

act, which has proved the subject of so much 
speculation and controversy both in America and 
Europe : I will, therefore, give a particular ac- 
count of their proceedings concerning it; which 
will perhaps appear to have been of far greater 
consequence than is generally supposed in Eng- 
land. 

The American colonists were no sooner extri- 
cated from all danger of Gallic depredation by 
the peace of 1763, than they began to manifest 
symptoms of ingratitude and rebellion against 
their deliverers. Connecticut, on several ac- 
countSj particularly that of its /ree constitution in 
church and state, which prevented every inter- 
ruption from a King's Governor, was fixed upon 
as the fittest site for raising the first fruits of jea- 
lousy and disaffection. Nor did the hatred, which 
kept the province at eternal strife within itself on 
all other occasions, prevent its political coinci- 
dence upon this. In 1764, delegates from every 
dissenting association in America convened at 
New-Haven, and settled the plan of operations. 
They voted, that the American vine was endan- 
gered by the encroachments of the English Par- 
liament, and the Society for the Propagation of 
the Gospel in foreign parts ; that episcopacy was 
established in Nova Scotia, and missionaries 
maintained by the English government, while 
New-England and other American states were 
taxed to support that same government ; that a 

21* 



246 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

league and covenant ought to be made and sign- 
ed by all good protestants against the machina- 
tions of their enemies, and in defence of their 
civil and religious liberties ; that it was the duty 
of all good protestants to stand upon their guard, 
and collect and send every kind of interestinjr in- 
telligence to the Moderator at Hertford, whose 
business would be to communicate the same in 
his circular letters to the true friends of protes- 
tant liberty. 

In my opinion, whoever does not perceive the 
spirit cf civil as well as religious independence in 
this convention, and these resolutions of dissent- 
ing divines, must be politically blind. 

Whilst Mr. Grenville was exerting his fanatical 
faculties for the relief of the mother country, 
ready to sink under the load of expense brought 
upon her by that war which had opened an ave- 
nue to highest exaltation for her American off- 
spring, Connecticut was early advertised by mer- 
chants, divines, and ladies, in England, that the 
parliament was about to give the colonies a spe- 
cimen of English burthens. The consociation 
ordered a fast, to deprecate the threatened judg- 
ments. This fast was served up with sermons 
pointing out the reigns of wicked kings, and 
what the fathers of the howling wilderness of 
America had suffered from the Kings, Lords, and 
Bishops, in the last century ; and concluded with. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT, 247 

" One woe is past, and behold, there come two 
woes more hereafter !" 

A requisition having been made in 1763 that 
each colony in America should raise a revenue to 
assist Great Britain in discharging the national 
debt, which had been partly incurred at their re- 
quest, and for their preservation, the General As- 
sembly was instructed by Dr. Franklin and others 
how to act. Accordingly, the Assembly resolved 
not to raise any money towards the national debt 
or any national expenses, till the Parliament should 
remove the navigation act, which they said was ad- 
vantageous to Great Britain, and disadvantageous 
to America ; and, therefore. Great Britain, in de- 
fraying the whole of the national expense, did 
nothing more than justice required, so long as 
that act should be continued. Such were the 
arguments and resolutions of the General Assem- 
bly, although their agent in England had informed 
them, that, if they refused to comply with the re- 
quisition of the minister, the Parliament would 
tax them. 

The agent's intelligence proved to be well 
grounded. In 1765, the Stamp act passed, be- 
cause the colonies had refused to tax themselves. 
News so important soon arrived in America ; and 
the consociation of Connecticut appointed an- 
other fast, and ordered the angels to sound their 
trumpets, arid great plagues followed. Thomas 
Fitch, the Governor, shewed some dislike to the 



248 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

proceedings of the consociation, but was given to 
understand that Christ's ministers acted by an 
authority superior to that of the Governor or a 
King. The episcopalians, and many sects, saw 
no reason for keeping the fast ; but the Governor 
observed it with a view to secure his election the 
next year, and was successful. The episcopa- 
lians were rewarded for their disobedience with 
what is called "A new religious Comic Liturgy," 
which was printed and circulated through the 
colony as the performance of Doctor Franklin, 
and acted in many towns by the young people on 
evenings, by way of sport and amusement. The 
Litany was altered in many places, especially in 
the paragraphs respecting the King, Nobility, &c. 
and instead of " We beseech thee to hear us, 
good Lord !" was substituted, " We beseech thee, 
O Cromwell ! to hear [our prayers] us" — "O holy, 
blessed, and glorious Trinity !" was altered thus. 
" O Chatham ! Wilkes ! and Franklin ! have mer- 
cy upon us." " From plague, pestilence, famine" 
&c. was followed by, "O Cromwell ! deliver us." 
An episcopal clergyman had courage enough to 
complain of these blasphemous proceedings, and 
the grand jury indicted the comic actors ; but the 
magistrate to whom the complaint was made, re- 
fused to grant a warrant, using worse malediction 
against the King than was contained in the lu- 
dicrous Litany. Hereupon the grand jury in- 
dicted the magistrate for high treason, but no 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 249 

magistrate could be found of resolution enough 
to grant a warrant against the traitor. However, 
the Comic Liturgy was acted but privately after- 
wards, and, upon the repeal of the stamp-act, was 
suppressed as far as they could do it. 

This second fast was sanctified with preaching 
on this and similar texts, — " And there arose a 
new King in Egypt who remembered not Jo- 
seph ;" and with praying God to grant the King 
a heart of flesh, and to remove popery out of the 
British parliament. 

The stamp-act was to take place in November, 
1765 ; some months before which the stamp-mas- 
ter, Jared Ingersoll, Esq. who had been the colo- 
ny's agent in England, arrived at New-Haven in 
Connecticut In September, a special Assembly 
was convened at Hertford, for the purpose of con- 
sidering what steps to take. As if to avoid ac- 
knowledging the supremacy of the British Parlia- 
ment, they determined not to apply themselves 
for the repeal of the act ; but secretly encoura- 
ged a number of lawyers, merchants, and divines, 
to meet, by their own authority, at New-York, 
for that purpose. In the meantime, three mobs 
were raised under Durgy, Leach, and Parsons^ 
who by different routes marched towards New- 
Haven, to sei^e the stamp-master. They suc- 
ceeded ; and, having brought their prisoner be- 
fore the Assembly-house at Hertford, they gave^ 
him the alternative to resign or die. Mr. Inger- 



250 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

soil appealed several times by confidential mes- 
sengers to the Assembly then sitting, but finding 
them inclined to countenance the mob, he was 
forced to resign, and authenticate the same by 
whirling first his hat and next his wig three times 
round his head, and then into the air ; whilst the 
General Assembly and Consociation (which last 
venerable body never fails to be ready with its 
counsel and assistance on all salutary occasions) 
shouted with the multitude, from their windows, 
at the glorious achievement. 

This special Assembly, having sufficiently ma- 
nifested the part they wished the colony to take, 
broke up, leaving further proceedings to the 
mob,* who continued to act up to the specimen 



*The following instance will show that a Connecticut 
mob of Sober Dissenters is not inferior to a London nx)b of 
drunken conformists, either in point of ingenuity, low humor, 
or religious mockery. 

The stamp-master was declared by the mob at Hertford to 
be dead. The mob at Lebanon undertook to send In- 
GERSoi,L to his own place. They made three effigies: one 
to represent Mr. Grenville; another Ingersoll ; and a third 
the Devii. The last was dressed with a wig, hat, and black 
coat given by parson Solomon WilHams, of Lebanon. Mr. 
Grenville was honored with a hat, wig, and coat, a present 
from Mr. Jonathan Trumbull, who was afterwards chosen 
Governor. Mr. Ingersoll was dressed in red, with a lawyer's 
wig, a wooden sword, and his hat under his arm, by the 
generosity of Joseph Trumbull. Thus equipped, the effi- 
gies were put into a cart with ropes about their necks, and 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 




MOB AT LEBANON, 

Carrying certain obnoxious characters in effigy to the gallows 
(Page 250.) 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 251 

already given ; and to the congress at New-York, 
which met there accordingly, agreed upon and 
transmitted to England a petition for a repeal of 
the obnoxious act. 



drawn towards the gallows. A dialogue ensued between 
the criminals. Some friendship seemed to subsist between 
Mr. Grenville and the Devil, while nothing but sneers and 
^rowns passed the Devil to Ingersoll; and the fawning re- 
verence of the latter gave his infernal highness such offence, 
that he turned up his breech and discharged fire, brimstone, 
and tar, in Ingersoll's face ; setting him all in a blaze ; 
which, however, Mr. Grenville generously extinguished 
v/ith a squirt. This was many times repeated. As the 
procession advanced, the mob exclaimed, "Behold the just 
reward of our agent, who sold himself to Grenville, like Ju- 
das, at a price I" In this manner the farce was continued 
till midnight, at which time they arrived at the gallows; 
where a person in a long shirt, in derision of the surplice of 
a church clergyman, addressed the criminals with republi- 
can atticisms, ralleries, «fcc. concluding thus: " May your 
deaths be tedious and intolerable, and may your souls sink 
quick down to hell, the residence of tyrants, traitors, and 
devils I" The effigies were then turned off, and, after hang- 
ing some time, were hoisted upon a huge pile of wood, 
and burnt, that their bodies might share a similar fate 
with their souls. This pious transaction exalted the cha- 
racter of Mr. Trumbull, and facilitated his election to the 
office of Governor : and what was of further advantage to 
him, his mob judged that the bones of Ingersoll's effigy 
merited christian burial according to the rites of the church 
of England, though he had been brought up a Sober Dis- 
senter ; and resolved therefore, to bury his bones in Hebron. 
Accordingly thither they repaired ; and, after having made 



252 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

The October session of the General Assembly 
is always holden at New-Haven : there and then 
they were informed by Mr. Dyer,* who had made 

a coffin, dug- a grave in a cross street, and made every other 
preparation for the interment, they sent for the episcopal 
clergyman there to attend the iuneral of the bones of Inger- 
soll the traitor. The clergyman told the messengers that 
neither his office nor person were to be sported with, nor 
was it his business to bury Sober Dissenters^ who abuse the 
cliurch while living. The mob, enraged at this answer, 
ordered a party to bring the clergyman by force, or send 
him to hell after Ingersoll. This alarmed the people of 
the town, who instantly loaded their muskets in defence of 
the clergyman. Thus checked in their mad career, the 
mob contented themselves with a solemn funeral procession' 
drums beating, and horns blowing, and buried the coffin in 
the cross street, one of the pantomimes bawling out, — We 
commit this traitor's bones to the earth, ashes to dust, and 
dust to ashes, in sure and certain hope that his soul is in hell 
with all tories and enemies of Zion. Then, having driven 
a stake through the coffin, and each cast a stone upon the 
grave, they broke a few windows, cursed such clergymen 
as rode in chaises, and were above the control of God's peo- 
ple, and went off with a witless saying, viz. — " It is better 
to live with the church miUtant, than with the chuich tri- 
umphant." 

* This Mr. Dyer had been in England, had petitioned for, 
■and, through Dr. Franklins interest, obtained a new office 
at the port of New-London, viz. that of Comptroller ; but 
afterwards had thought proper to resign that office, in or- 
der to be made a judge of the superior court and one of the 
council, — and, forsooth, that a stranger only might serve 
the King of Great Britain in the character of o. publican in 
-Connecticut. 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 253 

one of the petitioners at New-York, that it was 
recommended by the Congress, for the colonial 
Governors to take the oath prescribed by the 
stamp act. The General Assembly, however, 
voted that the Governor of Connecticut should 
not take it; and moreover determined to continue 
Mr. Fitch in his office, notwithstanding the dis- 
franchisement incident on his refusal, if he would 
be guided by their advice; and the Rev. Mr. 
Ebenezer Devotion, one of the Representatives, 
and Eliphalet Dyer (above mentioned,) one of 
the council, offered to pay the imposed fine of 
1,000/. However, the Governor presented him- 
self before the Council, whose business it was to 
administer the oath; but which, it is thought, 
Mr. Fitch presumed would be denied, and there- 
fore artfully devised this means at once of avoid- 
ing the oath, and shifting the penalties from him- 
self upon them. Seven out of twelve, suspecting 
the Governor's design, put their fingers in their 
ears, shuffled their feet, and ran groaning out of 
the house ; the other five staid, and administered 
the oath, with a view to save themselves and the 
charter, and direct the wrath of the people against 
the Governor ; but in this they were mistaken, in- 
curring in common with him the odium of the 
patriots. 

The stamp-act having thus gained footing, the 
Assembly broke up. Legal proceedings also 
were discontinued, and the courts of justice shut. 

22 



254 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

The Consociations and Associations kept fre- 
quent fasts of their own appointment, praying 
and preaching against Roman Catholic rulers, 
Arminian governors, and false-hearted counsel- 
lors, and episcopizing curates. Hereupon the 
mobs became outrageous ; sedition was law, and 
rebellion gospel. The stamp-master was called 
a traitor to his country, and the episcopalians 
enemies to Zion and liberty. 

The fastings, prayers, and riots, brought about 
a revolution in the colony. Fitch, who had ta- 
ken, and the five assistants who had administered, 
the oath, as well as many officers both civil and 
military, who declined to take a rebellious part, 
were dismissed from their posts ; and a new Go- 
vernor, other counsellors, &,c. were chosen, and 
the people fitted for every kind of mischief; all, 
however, under the pretence of religion and li- 
berty. The patriotic Mr. Dyer distinguished 
himself by furnishing the fasting ministers with 
proper materials to inflame the minds of the peo- 
ple against the just demands of the King. One 
of his Machiavelian dogmas was, that the King 
claimed the colonies as his patrimony, and in- 
tended to raise a revenue in each province ; and 
that, having gained this point, his purpose was to 
govern England by America, and America by 
England, and thereby subvert liberty and estab- 
lish tyranny in both, as the Kings of France had 
done by means of the various parliaments in that 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 255 

country. Mr. Dyer declared he had this informa- 
tion from the best authority in England ; and 
added, that the liberties of both countries de- 
pended on America resisting the stamp-act, even 
unto blood. These and such like reveries sup- 
plied the ministers of the gospel with a great body 
of political divinity, and the mob with courage to 
break churchmen's windows, and cry out, " No 
Bishops ! no popery ! nor Kings^ Lords, and Ty- 
rants !" Every thing but decency and order 
over-run the colony. Indeed, the General As- 
sembly kept up their meetings, but it was only to 
transact such business as was not affected by the 
stamp-act. The mobs of the fasting ministers 
continued their lawless proceedings, without fur- 
ther interruption and impediment than what they 
met with from the strenuous exertions of the 
King's friends, who had repeatedly saved the lives 
of the stamp-master. Governor Fitch, the five re- 
jected counsellors, the episcopal clergy, and 
many good subjects, at the hazard of their own, 
though they could not preserve them from daily 
abuse and insult. 

The mobs, having been spirited up and trained 
to violence and outrage for several months, be- 
gan to give some alarm even to their instigators, 
especially as they were hitherto disappointed in 
their expectations of the act being repealed. 
The Governor and Council, therefore, directing 
their attention to the dangerous consequences of 



256 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

the lawless state and refractory temper the peo- 
ple were in, and being struck with the foresight 
of their own perilous situation, resolved, early in 
1766, to open the courts of law under the stamp act, 
if the very next packet did not bring certain ad- 
vice of its repeal ; and, all parties, who had cau- 
ses depending in any court, were to be duly noti- 
fied by the Governor's proclamation. This de- 
termination was no less mortifying to the mob 
than grateful to the King's friends, who were 
convinced that the stamp-act ought, both in poli- 
cy and justice, to be enforced, and therefore had 
risked their lives, fortunes, characters, and colo- 
nial honors in its support. The patriots, now ap- 
parently sickened with licentiousness, became 
very complaisant to the loyalists, declaring that, 
in all their opposition to the stamp-act, they had 
meant nothing personal, and desiring to have past 
animosities buried in oblivion. All things thus 
settled, tranquillity seemed to be returning; 
when lo ! the packet arrived with the fatal news 
of the repeal of the stamp-act. Then a double 
portion of madness seized the patriots, who, in 
their excess of joy, 'Mhat victory was gained over 
the beast, and over his mark," utterly forgot their 
late penitential and tranquil professions ; brand- 
ing the King's friends with the appellations of 
tories, Jacobites, and papists. The gospel minis- 
ters left off their fasting, and turned their mourn- 
ing into joy and triumph. " Now we behold," 



h 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 257 



said they in their pulpits, " that Great Britain is 
afraid of us; for the stamp-act is repealed, even 
upon the petition of an illegal body of men ; if, 
therefore, we stand fast in the liberties ivherein 
Christ has made us free, we need not fear in fu- 
ture the usurpations of the King, Lords, and Bi- 
shops of England." The accompanying claim of 
Parliament to the power of binding America in 
all cases whatsoever, was, indeed, a thorn which 
galled them much ; but they found a salvo in or- 
dering a copy of the repeal to be burnt under the 
gallows by the common hangman. The General 
Assembly also stepped forward, and voted the 
populace several barrels of powder, and pun- 
cheons of rum, together with one hundred pounds 
in money, to celebrate the festival. A tremen- 
dous mob met together at Hertford, and received 
their present. The powder was placed in a 
large brick school, and the rum on the common 
square. While each one was contending for his 
share, the powder took fire, and blew up the 
school, killing fifteen or sixteen persons, and 
wounding many. This disaster shook the house 
where the Consociation were sitting ; upon which 
they resolved that Heaven did not approve of 
their rejoicings, because the repeal was but par- 
tial ! They, therefore, ordered a new fast to do 
away the iniquities of that day, and to implore 
the Supreme to direct them in what manner to 
guard against the machinations of " the locusts^ 

22* 



258 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. ^ 

who had a king over them, whose name in the 
Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek 
Apollyon !" 

This fast was cooked up with a favorite text in 
New-England, viz. " He reproved even Kings for 
their sake." From these words the preachers 
proved that the King's power lay in his mouth 
and in his tail, which, like " a serpent, did hurt 
for a month and a year :" and that God would 
protect his people against " the murders, the sor- 
ceries, the fornication, the thefts," of bishops, 
popes, and kings, " and make nations angry, and 
give them power to judge and to destroy those 
who would destroy his prophets and his saints." 
In this day of great humiliation, the prophets en- 
tertained the saints with a spice of rejoicing, be- 
cause '' Victory was gotten over the beast, and 
over his image, and over his mark, and over the 
number of his name." "Therefore," said they, 
■' rejoice, O inhabitants of the earth and of the 
sea, because we can yet buy and sell without the 
mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of 
his namey 

This bombastic declamation against the autho- 
rity of Great Britain raised the passions of a great 
portion of the multitude higher than was intend- 
ed. They had lately been tutored to form high 
notions of their own consequence, had been in- 
toxicated with a life of confusion in a lawless 
country, and had now no relish for a government 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 259 

of any kind whatever : accordingly, inflamed by 
the rhapsodies of the preachers, they set them- 
selves against that of the colony ; arguing, that, 
if the Lord would reprove Kings, Lords, and Bi- 
shops, /or their sake, he would also reprove go- 
vernors, magistrates and consociations, for their 
sake. This revolt of a part of the people was 
encouraged and strengthened by the adherents 
of Governor Fitch, the five discarded counsellors, 
and the loyalists ; so that very formidable bodies 
soon appeared in divers towns, threatening de- 
struction to the General Assembly, Consociation, 
associations, executive courts, &c. &c. Colonel 
Street Hall, of Wallingford, a loyalist, was ap- 
pointed General over these supreme multi- 
tudes. They soon acquainted the General As- 
sembly and Consociation, that, by the authori- 
ty that England had been reformed, by the same 
authority should Connecticut be reformed ; and 
Mr. Hall sent a letter to the judges of the county 
court, then sitting at New-Haven, purporting, 
that it was not agreeable to the people for them 
to continue their proceedings, or that any execu- 
tions should be granted, and concluding thus :— 
" Ye, that have ears to hear, hear what is said 
unto you; — for we shall quickly come!" The 
judges, without hesitation or adjournment, ran out 
of court, and went home as privately as possible. 
The merchants, the gospel ministers, the lawyers, 
and judges, who had with great zeal inculcated 



2C)0 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

the divine right of the people to resist kings, 
found themselves in a starving condition under 
the exertion of that boasted right. The General 
Assembly and Association, however, again con- 
vened, and, after much fasting and prayer, re- 
solved, that the conduct of Street Hall, Esq. and 
his associates, was seditious and treasonable ; and 
ordered the Attorney General, Colonel Elihu 
Hall, to indict his nephew Street Hall, for trea- 
sonable practices. The Attorney General re- 
fused to comply with this mandate, whereupon he 
was dismissed, and James Hillhouse, Esq. ap- 
pointed in his place, who indicted Street Hall; 
but no sheriff dared serve the warrant. Street 
Hall ordered his people to prepare for battle, and 
to be ready at a minute's warning ; and rode 
about with one servant in defiance of the Gene- 
ral Assembly, who likewise prepared to support 
their power. It was most likely that Street Hall 
would have prevailed, had an engagement taken 
place; for the episcopalians, and all the friends 
of Mr. Fitch and the five dismissed counsellors, 
would have supported Mr. Hall. But a battle 
was prevented by the interposition of the Conso- 
ciation with this curious Gospel axiom, viz. that 
it was legal and politic in the people to oppose 
and resist the foreign power, which was unjustly 
claimed by the King of Great Britain ; but it was 
neither politic nor right to oppose the magistrates 
and laws made by themselves. They prevailed 



HISTORY OP CONNECTICUT. 261 

on Street Hall to condescend to write to the 
General Assembly to this effect : — '* That he was 
a friend to the laws and constitution of the 
colony, and wished to support both ; and should 
do it, on condition that they would rescind their 
vote, and that no one should be prosecuted for 
what had been done by him and his associates;" 
The Assembly very gladly voted this overture of 
Street Hall to be satisfactory ; and thus peace 
was re-established between the Assembly and 
Street Hall. Nevertheless, Mr. Hall was greatly 
censured by his partisans for this compromise ; 
and he lived in constant expectation of their 
hanging him, till he softened them by this re- 
markable address in vindication of his conduct : 

" We have done," said he, " every thing in our 
power to support the authority of the British par- 
liament over the colonies. We have lost our 
property, local reputations, and all colonial offices 
and respect among our countrymen, in defence of 
that King and Parliament, who have not shed a 
tear at our sufferings, nor failed to sacrifice their 
own dignities and their best friends, to please a 
party that never will be easy until another Oliver 
arise to extirpate Kings, Lords, and Bishops. By 
heavens !" added Street Hall, with great energy, 
" I will rest my life upon this single question, 
who would stand up in defence of a king who 
prefers his enemies to his friends? — If you acquit 
me, I shall more fully declare my principles," 



262 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

The mob, after much consideration, declared 
their approbation of Mr. Hall's conduct ; upon 
which lie resumed his address nearly as follows : 
" Gentlemen, We have once been betrayed and 
forsaken by the King and Parliament of Great- 
Britain ; no dependence, then, ought henceforth 
to be placed upon either. It is plain to me, that, 
if we had extirpated the General Assembly, and 
all the avowed enemies of the constitution of 
Great-Britian, yet that very Parliament would have 
been the first of all the creation to honor us with 
a gallows for our reward. I therelore swear, by 
Him who controls the wheels of time, that in fu- 
ture, I will support the laws and dignity of this 
colony, and never more put any confidence in 
Princes, or the British Parliament. The Savior of 
the World trusted Judas but once ; and it is my 
opinion, that those who betray and forsake their 
friends, ought to experience the wrath and in- 
dignation of friends turned enemies. In this case, 
baseness, is policy ; ingratitude, loyalty; and re- 
vonge — heroic virtue !" 

Colonel Street Hall spoke with great vehe- 
mence, and might be censured for rashness by 
people who were not in America at the time : 
but his sentiments reached the hearts of half of 
the King's friends there; for the repeal of the 
stamp-act had fixed in their breasts an everlasting 
hatred of the fickle temper of Britons. 

Few people, hereafter, will advance a sixpenoe 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 263 

in support of any acts of the Parliament of Great- 
Britain over her colonies. Prior to the year 
1766, such a public spirit prevailed in America 
over private interest, as would naturally have led 
the people to conform to any acts of a British 
Parliament, from a deep-rooted confidence that 
the requisitions of Britain would be no other 
than the requisitions of wisdom and necessity. 
Two thirds, 1 may say with safety, of all the peo- 
ple in America, thought there were wisdom and 
justice in the stamp-act, and wished to have it 
continued, first, because they were sensible of 
being greatly indebted to the generosity and 
protection of Britain ; secondly, because they 
had rather be subject to the control of Parliament 
in regard to a revenue, than have it raised by the 
authority of their own assemblies, who favor the 
rich and oppress the poor; and, thirdly, because 
the stamp-act would have prevented innumera- 
ble suits at law, the costs of which in Connecti- 
cut have, during the last forty years, amounted to 
ten times as much as all others for war, gospel, 
physic, the poor, &c. &c. &c. It is impossible 
to describe the disappointment and mortification 
they suffered by the repeal of that act : it exposed 
them to calumny, derision and oppression ; it 
disheartened all, and occasioned the defection of 
many, while their adversaries triumphed in the 
encouragement it had given them to prosecute 
their malicious schemes against the church, king, 



264 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 

laws, and commerce of England. However, in 
regard to the question of raising a revenue in 
America, I have never met with one American 
wbo would not allow (though unwillingly) the 
reasonableness of it, with certain conditions and 
provisos. Thus, 1. The judges and lawyers re- 
quired the tax to be imposed by the General As- 
sembly of each province : — 2. The merchants, 
whose conscience is gain, and who commonly 
constitute more than half of the Assembly, de- 
clared that, before any revenue was raised, the 
navigation-act should be repealed, and the East 
India Company, and all the monopolies, dissolved : 
— 8. The gospel ministers, whose power in New- 
England is terrible to flesh and spirit, would con- 
tribute to a revenue, after the King and Parlia- 
ment had dropped their claim to supreme autho- 
rity over America, and secured the American 
vine against the domination and usurpations of 
bishops. To these sources may be traced all the 
objections ever made against a revenue in Ame- 
rica, which spring from three orders of men, of 
the least real benefit to that country, and whose 
proportion to all others there is not as one to a 
hundred ; though they have had the art and ad- 
dress, by imposition and delusion, to involve them 
in their tumultuous, contentious, and ruinous 
projects and undertakings. Indeed, the clergy, 
lawyers, and merchants of European countries, 
have been represented as the worst enemies of 



HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. 265 

society — the great promoters of discord, war, in- 
surrections, and rebellions ; but the heathen have 
not yet given us an example how depraved man- 
kind would be without them. However, suppo- 
sing the crimination to have foundation, there is 
one good reason to be offered in palliation of it. 
Most governments are too apt to adopt the maxim 
of rewarding prosperous opposing zealots; whilst 
the exertions of oppressed friends are passed over, 
if not with contempt, at least with silent neglect. 
Hence, men will naturally be induced, m defi- 
ance of law and gospel, to head parties, to be- 
come consequential in the world. 

23 



appe:^dix. 



The preceding sheets bring the history of Con- 
necticut to its latest period of amity with Great 
Britain, agreeable to the plan on which it was 
begun. I have been advised, however, to lay 
before my readers, in an appendix, a summary 
account of the proceedings of the people of Con- 
necticut immediately leading to their open com- 
mencement of hostilities against the mother 
country, not only because some events are not at 
all, or erroneously known here, but also because 
they will form a supplement necessary in several 
instances to what has been already related. An- 
other reason which induces me to make the pro- 
posed addition, is, the opportunity it will give me 
of laying before the public, by way of introduc- 
tion, some matter which, I flatter myself, may 
not be wholly undeserving the attention of go- 
vernment, at, I trust, an approaching signal era in 
British and American history. This, I am sure 
of, that no chimera of vanity, but a thorough 
conviction in my own breast of the foundation 
they have in truth, is the sole motive of my thus 
committing my thoughts upon the subject to the 
press. 



268 APPENDIX, 

Many writers have endeavored to point out the 
motive which prompted the Americans to the 
w^ish of being independent of Great Britain, who 
had, for a century and a half, nursed and protect- 
ed them with parental tenderness ; but they have 
only touched upon the reasons ostensibly held 
up by the Americans, but which are merely a 
veil to the true causes. These, therefore, I shall 
endeavor to set before the reader, unheeding 
the imputation of arrogance and presumption I 
may expose myself to, and relying upon the 
knowledge I have of the temper and circumstan- 
ces of the people for the justification of my asser- 
tions. 

In the first place, England, as if afraid to ven- 
ture her constitution in America, has kept it at 
an awful distance, and established in too many of 
her colonies republicanism, wherein the demo- 
cratic absorbs the regal and aristocratic parts of 
the English constitution. The people naturally 
imbibed the idea that they were superior to Kings 
and Lords, because they controled their repre- 
sentatives, governors, and their councils. This 
is the infallible consequence of popular govern- 
ments. 

Secondly, the English have, like the Dutch, 
adopted the errors of ancient Rome, who judged 
her colonies could be held in subjection only by 
natives of Rome ; and therefore all emoluments 
were carefully withheld from natives of colonies. 



APPENDIX. 269 

Thirdly, the learned and opulent families in 
America have not been honored by their King, 
like those borsi in Britain. 

Fourthly, the Americans saw themselves de- 
spised by the Britons, " though bone of their 
bone, and flesh of their flesh." They felt and 
complained of, without redress, the sad effects of 
convicts, the curses of human society, and the 
disgrace of England, taken from the dungeons, 
jails, and gibbets, and poured into America as 
the common shore of England, to murder, plun- 
der, and commit outrage upon a people " whom, 
the King did not delight to honor." 

Hence tl.e present rebellion. Human nature, 
is always such, that men will neither cease 
struggling for honor, wealth, and power, at the 
expense of gratitude, loyalty, and virtue. Indig- 
nation and despair seized the gentlemen in Ame- 
rica, who thought, like Haman, that their afliu- 
ence and ease' were nothing worth, so long as 
they lay under their sovereign's contempt. They 
declared that the insult reached the whole conti- 
nent, in which are to be found only two Baro- 
nets of Great Britain, while all the other inhabi- 
tants are held beneath the yeomanry of England, 
They added, " Let Caesar tremble ! Let wealth 
and private property depart to deliver our coon- 
try from the injuries of our elder brethren.' How 
easily might this rebellion have been averted: by 
the babioleof titles ! With what reason factioas; 

a3*^ 



270 APPENDIX. 

and discontents sprung up in South America, may 
be learned from the dear bought wisdom of Spain. 
The Spaniards born m the vice-royalties of Peru 
and New-Granada, rich and learned, highly es- 
teemed by their countrymen, and of more influ- 
ence in their several provinces than all the no- 
bility, clergy, and merchants, in Spain ; whose 
fathers, to enlarge the empire of their sovereign, 
emigrated, with the natural rights of Spaniards, 
to almost a burning world, where they opened 
rocky mines, toiled in heats and rains to hew out 
gold and silver, to erect and cover royal and no- 
ble domes and pave the roads of Hesperia — those 
American born Spaniards, I say, were yet, after 
all, excluded from royal honors and trust, by a 
false and disgraceful principle that colonists 
win only be loyal when poor and neglected — a 
maxim which shook ancient Rome, failed Spain, 
and has thrown Britain into convulsions; — a 
maxim false in nature and experience, without 
justice and without policy ; — and, yet, a maxim 
which men in power have adopted with intention 
to secure to themselves and their posterity the 
monopoly o^ noble blood — without once reflecting 
that emigrants, who had been hardy enough to 
storm ruw^ed mountains in the transatlantic 
world, for the sake of converting poverty into 
riches, would afterwards seek honors and noble 
names through blaze and ruin, with more avidity 
than adventurers under Pizarro ever sought the 



APPENDIX, 271 

wealth of Potosi and La Plata. Had the Dons 
of Spain been actuated by principles of justice, 
they would not have treated the Spanish natives 
of South America as aliens, as a race of beings 
unworthy of royal notice, trust and dignity, 
which they themselves enjoyed, though they had 
never wet their fingers in exploring new worlds, 
or in perforating the golden Andes. But experi- 
ence and necessity cut short their pride; and 
compelled them to liberal dealings with their 
distant brethren, on pain of losing them as they 
had lost the Netherlands. No good politician 
will suppose merit less deserving of reward, 
merely because the possessor of it was born at 
the distance of five thousand miles from Madrid; 
or that royal favors bolong solely to the nobility, 
who shine more from their ancestors' virtues than 
from their own. Spain took the hint in time, 
and shared royal honors among her younger 
brethren, which produced a conciliation between 
her dominions in the two worlds, that age or de» 
spair can never destroy. Spain transported to 
her colonies her own constitution in church and 
state — rewarded merit in whatever part of her 
territories it appeared — sent bishops to govern 
and ordain in every church in South America, 
and they, together with the native noblesse, pro- 
mote harmony, the offspring of justice and policy; 
while North America abounds with discord, 
hatred, and rebellion, entirely from the want qf 



£72 APPENDIX. 

policy and justice in their party-colored charterf?, 
and of the h.>nors anrl privileges of natural born 
subjects of Great B'itain. 

It appears to me that the British Governnnent, 
in the last century, did not expect New-England 
to remain under their authority ; nor did the 
New- Englanders consider themselves as subjects, 
but aUies, of Great Britain. It seems that Eng- 
land's intent was to afford an asylum to the re- 
publicans who had been a scourge to the British 
constitution ; and so, to encourage that restless 
party to emigrate, republican charters were grant- 
ed, and privileges and promises given them far 
beyond what an Englishman in England is en- 
titled to. The emigrants were empowered to 
make laws, in church and state, agreeable to 
their own will and pleasure, without the King's 
approbation — they were excused from all quit- 
rents, all government taxes, and promised pro- 
tection without paying homage to the British 
King, and their children entitled to the same 
riglits and privileges as if born in England. 
How^ever hard this bargain was on the sivle of 
Eugland. she has performed her part, except in. 
this last respect — indeed the most material in po- 
licy and in the minds of the principal gentlemen 
of Nevv-Englnnd. The honor of nobility has not 
been conferred on any of them ; and therefore 
they have never enjoyed the full privileges and 
liberties of Biitoiis ; but in. a degree have evet 



APPENDIX. 273 

been held in bondage under their chartered re- 
publican systems, wherein gentlemen of learning 
and property attain not to equal power with the 
peasants. The people of New-England are 
rightly styled republicans ; but a distinction 
should be made between the learned and unlearn- 
ed, the rich and poor. The latter form a great 
majority; the minority, therefore, are obliged to 
wear the livery of the majority, in order to secure 
their election into office. Those very republican 
gentlemen are ambitious, fond of the power of 
governing, and grudge no money nor pains to 
obtain an annual office. What would they not 
give for a dignity depending not on the fickle 
will of a multitude, but on the steady reason and 
generosity of a King ? The merchants, lawyers, 
and clergy, to appearance are republicans; but 
I will venture to assert, that not one in a hundred 
of them is really so. The truth is, they found 
necessity on one hand, and British neglect on the 
other, to be so intolerable, that they rather chose 
to risk their lives and fortunes to brin*^ about a 
revolution, than continue in the situation they 
were. As to the multitude, they had no cause of 
complaint: they were accuser, judge, king, and 
subjects only to themselves. — The rebellion 
springs not from them, but from the merchants, 
lawyers, and clergy, who yet are not inimical to 
the aristocratic branch of government, provided 
they are admitted to share in it according to 



^74 APPENDIX. 

their merit. It is true, they, like Calvin, the au- 
thor of their religion maintain, that no man can 
merit any thing of the Great Eternal : neverthe- 
less, they think they have merited the aristoratie 
honors which emanate from earthly kings ; while 
kings and nobles of the earth imagine themselves 
to have merited more than they yet enjoy, even 
heaven itself, only because they happen to be de- 
scendants of heroic ancestors. 

It is laid down as a maxim in English politics, 
that the aristocratic dignity is the great barrier 
between regal and popular power. Had Charles 
the First believed and observed this doctrine, he 
had saved his own life and the liberties of his 
people; and had Kings since his death enter- 
tained the same opinion of the nobility, they 
would have multiplied and spread them in every 
province as a royal blessing due to their subjects. 
Would Britons consent to give up the House of 
Lords? If not, why should they wish to debar 
America from such a favor ? Should the English 
nobility imagine their own importance lessened by 
the increase of English Lords, they will not be 
able to prove that an American peerage would 
not be as useful in that country as an English 
peerage is here. Policy and experience shew 
that mankind are bound by their interest and 
guided by their prospects ; yet how remiss has 
England been in tempting her colonies with her 
dwn noble and glorious constitution ! Is it at all 



APPENDIX. 275 

surprising, that, after a long sufferance of such 
neglect, and the evils I have pointed out, the 
hidden fire of indignation should at length break 
forth in America, with a blaze that spreads ruin 
and death throughout that land, and strikes ter- 
ror into this ! England now condescends to view 
the Americans as fellow-subjects, and even treats 
with their generals, though taken from jails and 
outlawed by herself: early justice and indul- 
gence would have removed from the parent this 
humiliating conduct, and united both worlds in 
one bond of love. But the day is far spent, and 
will not wrath burn forever ? 

England has also been as careful to keep to 
herself her religion and Bishops as her civil con- 
stitution and baronies. An Indian chief once 
asked me, " Whether Bishops were too good or 
too bad for America?" He added, "If they are 
good in England, why not in America ? and if 
bad, why preserved in England?" A million of 
churchmen in America have been considered not 
worthy of one Bishop, while eight millions in 
South Britain, are scarcely honored enough with 
twenty-six: an insult on common justice, which 
would have extinguished every spark of affection 
in America for the English church, and created 
an everlasting schism like that between Constanti- 
nople and Rome, had not the majority of the 
American episcopal clergy been possessed of less 
ambition than love and zeal. They have suffered 



276 APPENDIX.- 

on both sides the Atlantic in name* and property, 
for their endeavors to keep up a union between 
the mother country and her children; but all 
their arguments and persuasions were insufficient 
to convince their brethren that England would in 
future be more generous towards her colonies. — 
One of the first fruits of the grand continental 
meeting of dissenting divines at New-Haven was 
a coalition between the republican and the minor 
part of the episcopal clergy, who were soon 
' ■ -^ 

* William Smith, in his history of New- York, p. 56, like 
his brother Douglas, asserts, that the missionaries and epis- 
copal clergy have been guilty of writing home to the Socie- 
ty for the Propagation of the Gospel," amazing falsehoods 
and misrepresentations;" and he adds," that it would be an 
agreeable office to him to distinguish the innocent from the 
guilty." Then why not so prove his charge? "Because,'' 
says he, in p. 242, "• the prudent historian of his own times 
will always be a coward, and never give fire, till death pro- 
tects him from the malice and stroke of his enemy :" a sen- 
timent borrowed from the old adage, " Mortui non mor- 
dent," and truly worthy of the writer. But what have 
been Mr. Smith's character and prudence since the com- 
mencement of the present rebellion? Did he not in 1774, 
out of his great veneration for chrissdanity, liberty, and his 
king, excite and encourage the mobs of New- York in their 
opposition to the church, laws, and George III. ? — In 1775, 
did not he and his associates, finding themselves insufficient 
to effect their glorious purposes, request the assistance of 
their christian bretliren of Connecticut against the mighty 
enemies of the American vine, who accordingly repaired 
thither under the conduct of Waterbury and Wooster, two 



APPENDIX. 277 

joined by the merchants, lawyers, and planters, 
with a view of procuring titles, ordination, and 
government, independent of Great Britain, who 
had too long played with divide et impera. 

Of such sort, I am bold to pronounce to the 
world, were the real sources of the present re- 
bellion in America, The invasion of this or that 
colonial right, the oppression of this or that act 
of parliament, were merely the pretended causes 
of it, which the ill-humor of a misgoverned peo- 



villians that were conceived in sin aud from the womb went 
speaking lies? Did they not soon become masters of the 
city, and intolerable tyrants over loyal subjects? — In 1776, 
did not Mr. Smith's mob plunder the city of New-Yoik, 
not excepting the churches and college ; then set it on fire, 
and fly by the blaze into the howling wilderness, with the 
heroes mentioned in his history, viz. Livingston, Schuyler, 
Morris, and other traitors? From whence, in r777, did not 
Mr. Smith return to New-York, by the advice of his com- 
rades, to manifest his loyalty and love of the protestant re- 
ligion, to serve the Congress and his King, and to save 
harmless the rebels above mentioned, and their copartners 
in murder, plunder and treason? Are these the virtues, 
William Smith! that, in 1780, were so conspicuous as to 
procure thy being appointed Chief Justice of a sacked and 
ruined people ?~The imprudent historian of his own times 
is no coward, nor does he fear thy malice, which, above all 
things, except thy hypocrisy and treachery, passes all hu^ 
man understanding. " Quelques uns dirent, c'est par Beei- 
zebul qu'il chasse les demons." Les autres dirent, que sa 
mere tenoit de I'air de Marie Magdelaine, apres que la sage 
femme eut chassee trois demons. 

24 



278 APPENDIX. 

pie prompted them eagerly to hold up; causes, 
which would never have found existence, whose 
existence had never been necessary, if a better 
system of American policy had been adopted, 
hut being produced, the shadow of complaint 
was exhibited instead of the substance — pre- 
tence, instead of reality — every republican pulpit 
resounded with invectives against the King, 
Lords, and Commons, who claimed a power to 
tax and govern the people of America ; a power 
which their charters and ancestors knew nothing 
of. " Britons," said they, " call our property 
theirs; they consider us as slaves, as hewers of 
wood, and drawers of water, to the descendants 
of those tyrants in church and state, who in the 
last century expelled and persecuted our fathers 
into the wilds of America. We have charters 
sacred as Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights." 
They declared that the liberties of America ought 
to be defended with the blood of millions ; that 
the Attorney General ought to impeach the Par- 
liament of Great Britain, and all its abettors, of 
hi^h treason for daring to tax the freemen of 
America; that each colony was a palatinate, and 
the people the palatine ; that the people of Con- 
necticut had as much authority to issue a writ of 
Quo Warranto against Magna Charta, as the 
King had to order such a writ against the charter 
ofConnecticut. 

By ravings of this kind did the Sober Dissen- 



APPENDIX. 279 

ters manifest their discontents, when the various 
measures for raising a revenue in America were 
adopted by the British ministry. That of send- 
ing tea to America in 1773, subject to a duty of 
Sd. in the pound, payable there, particularly ex- 
cited their clamor, as designed, they said, to es- 
tablish a precedent of British taxation in that 
country ; and, notwithstanding all the remon- 
strances of the loyalists, who strenuously exerted 
themselves in removing vulgar prejudices, and 
procuring a reconciliation with circumstances 
rendered unavoidable by the necessity of the 
times, they effectually enflamed the minds of the 
populace, by reading, in the meetings on Sun- 
days, letters said to have been sent by Dr. Frank- 
lin, J. Temple, and a certain female writer in 
England, representing the danger of paying any 
tax imposed by Parliament, and the evils })rotes^ 
tantism was threatened with by a Roman Catho- 
lic King, by Jacobites, tories, and the episcopal 
clergy in both countries, all enemies to liberty 
and the American vine ; and adding, that, if the 
Americans paid the tax on tea, there were three 
hundred other taxes ready to be imposed upon 
them, one of which was " 501 for every son born 
in w^edlock, to maintain the natural children of 
the Lords and Bishops in England." 

The moderate counsel of the loyalists had for- 
merly been attended with some effect; but it was 
forced to give place to the ribaldry just mention* 



280 APPENDIX. 

ed ; and an opposition much more resolute was 
determined upon against the tea-act/ than had 
been made to the stamp-act. A provincial con- 
gress, committees of correspondence, committees 
of safety in every town, &,c. &c. now started up, 
for the purpose of setting the coleny in an up- 
roar against the parliviment of Great Britain. To 
this end contributed not a little the falsehoods 
and artifices of Mr. Hancock and other Boston 
merchants, who had in their storehouses near 
40,000 half-boxes of teas smuggled from the 
Dutch, which would never have been sold, had 
the Company's teas been once admitted into 
America, as the latter v/ere not only the better in 
quality, but, the duty being reduced from Is. to 
3c?. would be also the much cheaper commodity. 
Mr. Hancock and his compatriots, therefore, 
were by no means wanting in endeavors to pro- 
cure the first teas which arrived in New-England, 
the reception they met v/ith in the harhor of Bos- 
ton. That famous exploit afforded them an op- 
portunity of clearing their warehouses, which 
they prudently resolved to do as soon as possible, 
lest the reception of the Company's tea in other 
provinces, or other possible circumstances, should 
afterwards put it out of iheir power. An idea 
began to prevail, that a non importation of tea 
was an adviseable measure upon the present oc- 
casion ; accordingly, they advertised, that, after 
disposing of their present stock, they would not 



APPENDIX. 281 

import, or have any further dealings in tea, for 
two years. This at once tended to fill their pock- 
ets and exalt their characters as patriots. Tlie 
people, ignorant of the largeness of such stock, 
and apprehensive of being deprived of an article 
they were passionately fond of, eagerly furnished 
themselves with quantities sufficient for that 
time, mostly of about thirty, forty, or fifty pounds, 
notwithstanding the price was advanced Is. per 
pound, upon the pretence of raising money to 
pay for the tea destroyed in order to secure the 
religion and liberty of America, which under tbaj 
idea it was generally acknowledged ought to be 
done. When the tea was mostly disposed of, 
the people found that the extra price they had 
given for it was designed for the venders, instead 
of the East India Company, whose tea at the bot- 
tom of the harbor was not to be paid for. They 
murmured ; whereupon the smugglers voted, that 
they would not drink any more tea, but burn on 
the common what they had left. Some tea was 
so disposed of, and the public-spirited transac- 
tion blazoned in the newspapers. But this wa& 
not all : the smugglers sent letters to the leaders, 
of mobs in the country, enjoining them to wait 
upon the purchasers of their tea, and compel 
them to burn it as a proof of their patriotism. 
Those honorable instructions were obeyed, to the 
real grievance of the holders of the tea. *' Let 
Mr. Hancock," said they, " and the other raer- 

24*^ 



282 APPENDIX. 

chant smugglers, return us our money, and then 
you shall be welcome to burn the tea according 
to their orders." But it signified nothing to dis- 
pute the equity of the requisition : the cry was, 
"Join or die!'' nor would the sons of liberty be 
satisfied with any thing less, than that each owner 
of tea should with his own hands bring forth the 
same, and burn it ; and then sign a declaration 
that he had acted in this affair voluntarily, and 
without any compulsion whatever ; and, more- 
over, pay the printer for inserting it in the news- 
paper. 

An act of Parliament for shutting up the port 
of Boston was the immediate consequence of the 
destruction of the East India Company's tea. It 
took place in June, 1774, and was considered by 
the Americans as designed to reduce the Bosto- 
nians " to the most servile and mean compliance 
ever attempted to be imposed on a free people ; 
and allowed to be infinitely more alarming and 
dangerous to their common liberties, than even 
that hydra, the stamp-act." Due care had been 
taken to ensure its enforcement, by sending Ge- 
neral Gage as Governor to Boston, v«/here he ar- 
rived the preceding month, with a number of 
troops. Determined, however, as the Parliament 
seemed on compulsion, the colonists were equal- 
ly bent on resistance, and resolved on a conti- 
nental congress to direct their operations. In 
the mean time, contributions for relieving the 



APPENDIX. 283 

distressed people in Boston were voted by the 
colonies ; and Connecticut, through the officious- 
ness of its Governor, had the honor of setting an 
example by raising the first. Every tovi^n which 
did not subscribe to the support of the Bostonians 
was stigmatised as a tory town. The first that 
refused was loyal Hebron. There it was voted, 
" That, when the people of Boston should have 
paid for the teas that were destroyed, and behave 
like honest men, the town would give them sup- 
port, if their port was not opened by the King;" 
a vote, which, for the time, put a stop to further 
collections in the province. The patriots im- 
puted it to the influence of the Rev. Mr. Peters, 
(of whom I have already spoken) and his family. 
Many were the attempts tried to ruin his charac- 
ter, but unsuccessfully ; — he was too well beloved 
and befriended in the town. 

Falsehood and sedition had now for some time 
been every day increasing in the province ; and 
men, who were secret propagators of traitorous 
opinions, pretended in public to look up to the 
Consociation, the great focus of divine illumina- 
tion, for direction. After much fasting and 
praying, that holy leaven discovered an admira- 
ble method of advancing the blessed work of pro- 
testant liberty. The doors of prisons were open- 
ed, and prisoners became leaders of mobs com- 
posed of negroes, vagabonds, and thieves, who 
had much to gain and nothing to lose. The be- 



284 APPENDIX. 

som of destruction first cleared away the credi- 
tors of the renegadoes ; and then the Sandemu- 
nians, presbyterians, and episcopalians. The 
unfortunate complained to the Governor and ma- 
gistrates of the outrages of those banditti, begging 
the protection of the laws. The following was 
the best answer returned by the magistrates : — 
"The proceedings of which you complain, are 
like the acts of Parliament : but be this as it may, 
we are only servants of the people, in whom all 
power centers, and who have assumed their natu- 
ral right to judge and act for themselves." The 
loyalists armed to defend their property against 
those public thieves, but the liberty boys were 
instantly honored with the presence of ministers, 
deacons, and justices, who caused the grand jury 
to indict, as tories and rioters, those who pre- 
sumed to defend their houses, and the courts fined 
and imprisoned them. 

Thus horridly, by night and day, were the mobs 
driven on by the hopes of plunder, and the plea- 
sures of domineering over their superiors. Ha- 
ving sent terror and lamentation through their 
own colony, the incarnate fiends paid a visit to 
the episcopalians of Great Barrington, in the 
western confines of Massachusett-Bay, whose 
numbers exceeded that of the Sober Dissenters. 
Their wrath chiefly fell upon the Rev. Mr. Bost- 
wick, and David Ingersoll, Esq. The former was 
lashed with his back to a tree, and almost killed ; 



APPENDIX. 285 

but, on account of the fits of his wife and mother, 
and the screamings of the women and children, 
the mob released him upon his signing their 
league and covenant. As to Mr. Ingersoll, after 
demolishing his house and stealing his goods, 
they brought him almost naked into Connecticut 
upon a horse's bare ridge, in spite of the dis- 
tresses of his mother and sister, which were 
enough to melt the heart of a savage, though 
producing in the Sober Dissenters nothing but 
peals of laughter that rent the skies. Treatment 
so extremely barbarous did Mr. Ingersoll receive 
at their hands, that the sheriff of Litchfield coun- 
ty could not withhold his interposition, by which 
means he was set at liberty after signing the 
league and covenant. The grand jury indicted 
some of the leaders in this riot ; but the court 
dismissed them upon receiving information from 
Boston, that Ingersoll had seceded from the house 
of representatives, and declared for the King of 
England. 

What caused this irruption of the mob into 
Great Barrinaiton follows ; — The laws of Massa- 
chusetts-bay give each town a power to vote a 
tax for the support of the ministry, schools, poor, 
&c. The money, when collected, is deposited 
with the town treasurer, who is obliged to pay it 
according to the determination of the majority of 
the voters. The Sober Dissenters, for many 
years, had been the majority in Barringlon, and 



286 APPENDIX. 

had annually voted about two hundred pounds 
sterling for the ministry, above half of vi'hich was 
taken from the churchmen and Lutherans, whose 
ministers could have no part of it, because, se- 
parately, the greatest number of voters were So- 
ber Dissenters, who gave the whole to their mi- 
nister. This was deemed liberty and gospel in 
New-England; but mark the sequel. The Lu- 
therans, and some other sects, having joined the 
church party, the church gained the majority. 
Next year, the town voted the money as usual for 
the ministry, &.c. but the majority voted that the 
treasurer should pay the share appointed for the 
ministry to the church clergyman, which was ac- 
cordingly done : whereupon the Sober Dissenters 
cried out. Tyranny and persecution ! and applied 
to Governor Hutchinson, then the idol and pro- 
tector of the independents, for relief. His Ex- 
cellency, ever willing to leave "Paul bound," 
found a method of reversing the vote of the ma- 
jority of the freemen ofBarrington in favor of the 
churchmen, calling it "a vote obtained by wrong 
and fraud." The Governor, by law or without 
law, appointed Major Hawley, of Northampton, 
to be the moderator of the town meeting in Bar- 
rington. The Major accordingly attended ; but, 
after exerting himself three days in behalf of his 
oppressed brethren, was obliged to declare that 
the episcopalians had a great majority of legal 
voters : he then went home, leaving matters as 



APPENDIX. 287 

he found them. The Sober Dissenters were al- 
ways so poor in Harrington, that they could not 
have supported their minister without taxing their 
neighbors ; and when they lost that power, their 
minister departed from them, " because," as he 
said, " the Lord had called him to Rhode Island." 
To overthrow the majority of the church, and to 
establish the American vine upon its old founda- 
tion, was the main intention of the Sober Dissen- 
ters of Connecticut in visiting Great Barrington 
at this time. 

The warlike preparations throughout the colo- 
nies, and the intelligence obtained from certain 
credible refugees, of a secret design formed in 
Connecticut and Massachusetts-bay to attack the 
royal army, induced General Gage to make some 
fortifications upon Boston Neck, for their securi- 
ty. These of course gave offence ; but much 
more the excursion of a body of the troops on 
the 19th of April, 1775, to destroy a magazine of 
stores at Concord, and the skirmishes which en- 
sued. In a letter of the 28th of April, from Mr. 
Trumbull, the Governor of Connecticut, to Gene- 
ral Gage, after speaking of the " very just and 
general alarm" given the "good people" of that 
province by his arrival at Boston with troops, and 
subsequent fortifications, he tells the General 
that ''the late hostile and secret inroads of some 
of the troops under his command into the heart 
of the country, and the violences they had com- 



588 APPENDIX. 

mitted, had driven them almost into a state of 
desperation." Certain it is, that the populace 
were then so maddened, by false representations 
and aggravations of events unfortunate and la- 
mentable enough in themselves, as to be quite 
ripe for the open rebellion the Governor and As- 
sembly were on the point of commencing, though 
they had the effrontery to remonstrate against 
the defensive proceedings of the General, in or- 
der to conceal their treachery. Further on, in 
the same letter, Mr. Trumbull writes thus : "The 
people of this colony, you may rely upon it, ab- 
hor the idea of taking arms against the troops of 
their sovereign, and dread nothing so much as 
the horrors of civil war ; but at the same time, 
we beg leave to assure your Excellency, that, as 
they apprehend themselves justified by the prin- 
ciples of self-defence, so they are most firmly re- 
solved to defend their rights and privileges to the 
last extremity ; nor will they be restrained from 
giving aid to their brethren, if any unjustifiable 
attack is made upon them. Is there no way to 
prevent this unhappy dispute from coming to ex- 
tremities ? Is there no alternative but absolute 
submission, or the desolations of war? By that 
humanity which constitutes so amiable a part of 
your character: for the honor of our sovereign, 
and by the glory of the British empire, we entreat 
you to prevent it if it be possible. Surely, it is 
to be hoped, that the temperate wisdom of the 



APPENDIX. 28S> 

Empire might, even yet, find expedients to restore 
peace, that so all parts of the empire may enjoy 
their particular rights, honors, and immunities. 
Certainly, this is an event most devoutly to be 
wished for; and will it not be consistent with 
your duty to suspend the operations of war on 
your part, and enable us on ours to quiet the 
mmds of the people, at least, till the result of 
some further deliberations may be known?" &c, 
&c. 

From this letter, written as it was by the Gov- 
ernor of a province, at the desire of its General 
Assembly, the people of England may learn to 
think of American as they do of French sincerity. 
It is almost past credit, that, amidst the earnest 
protestations it contains of a peaceable disposi- 
tion in Mr. Trumbull and the rest of his coadju- 
tors in the government of Counecticut, they were 
meditating, and actually taking measures for the 
capture of certain of the King's forts, and the 
destruction of General Gage and his whole army, 
instead of quieting the mijids of the people ! Yet 
such was the fact. They had commissioned Motte 
and Phelps to draft men from the militia, if volun- 
teers should not readily appear, for a secret ex- 
pedition which proved to be again^^t Ticonderoga 
and Crown-Point; and the treasurer of the colo- 
ny, by order of the Governor and Council, had 
paid j500Z. to bear their expences. Nay. even 
before the date of the above amicable epistle, 

25 



290 APPENDIX. 

Motteand Phelps had left Hertford on that treason- 
able undertaking, in which they were joined on 
the way by Colonels Allen and Easton. Nor 
was this the only insidious enterprize they had to 
cover. The " good people" throughout the pro- 
vince, to the number of near 20,000, were secret- 
ly arming themselves, and filing off. to avoid sus- 
picion, in small part-es often or a dozen, to meet 
"their brethren,'' the Massachusetts ; not, how- 
ever, with the view of "giving aid, should any 
unjustifiable attack be made upon thetn," but to 
SURPRIZE Bobton by storm. In addition to the 
Governor's letter, the mock-peace-makers the 
General Assembly had deputed Dr. Samuel John- 
son, son of tiie Rev. Dr. Johnson, spoken of in 
this work, ^nd Oliver Wolcott, Esq. both of the 
Council, which had ordered the 1,500Z. for the 
adventurers to Ticonderoga, to wait upon Gene- 
ral Gage, the more effectually to amuse and de- 
ceive him into confidence and inaction. But hap- 
pily, at a critical time, just before the intended 
storm and slaughter at Boston, the news of the 
successofthe secret expedition reached that town, 
which fully discovered the true character and busi- 
ness of the two Connecticut ambassadors, and ren- 
dered it necessary for them, sans ceremcnie, to re- 
tire from Boston, and for General Gage immediate- 
ly to render the fortifications at the Neck im- 
pregnable. 

Thus did Connecticut, from its hot bed of fa- 



APPENDIX. 291 

naticism and sedition, produce the first indubi- 
table overt act of high treason in the present re- 
bellion, by actually levying war, and taking, viet 
armis, the King's forts and stores ; and, most 
probably, its obstinacy will render this the last of 
all the revolted states to acknowledge the su- 
premacy of Parliament. 

The Sober Dissenters, chagrined at being dis- 
appointed in their hostile project against Boston, 
readily embraced the opportunities which offered 
of wreaking their vengeance upon New-York. 
At the instance of the rebel party there, who 
found themselves too weak to eftect their purpose 
of subverting the constitution of the province, a 
large body immediately posted to their assistance, 
delivered " their brethren" from the slavery of r^- 
gal government, and invested them with the li- 
berty of doing that which was fit in their own 
eves, under the democratic administration of the 
immaculate Livingstons, Morris, Schuyler, &c. 
&c. As seemed necessary to the furtherance of 
their pacific views, frequent irruptions were made 
afterwards, in which many loyalists were disarm- 
ed and plundered, and some of them taken pri- 
soners. Among these last were the Rev. Dr. 
Seabury, and the Mayor of New-York. Gov. 
Tryon happily escaped their fury ; as also did, 
very narrowly, the Rev. Miles Cooper, LL. D. 
who was leaving his house through a back win- 
dow, when a party of ruffians burst into his cham- 



2§^ APPENDIX. 

ber, and thrust their bayonets into the bed he had 
just quitted. Mr. Rivington, whose case has 
been published, was one of the sufferers by loss 
of property. Those " good people," who "dread- 
ed nothing so much as the horrors of civil war,'' 
with the reverse of reluctance plundered his 
house of all his printing materials and furniture ; 
and, having scrambled for the latter, carried the 
types to New-Haven, where they have since been 
employed in the service of Congress. The King's 
statue, however, maintained its ground till after 
Mr. Washington with the continental army had 
taken possession of the city ; when it was indicted 
of high treason against the dominions of America, 
found guilty, and received a quaint sentence of 
this kind, viz. That it should undergo the act of 
decollation ; and, inasmuch as it had no bowels, 
its legs should be broken ; that the lead of it 
should be run into bullets, for the destruction of 
the English bloody-backs, and the refuse be cast 
into the ^ea. The sentence was immediately- 
carried into execution, amidst such huzzas and 
vociferations of " Praise ye the Lord!" that it 
brought to mind the songs of the annual feast of 
the calves-head club on the 30th of January, in 
derision of the royal martyr. This insult upon 
majesty, Mr. Washington thought proper thus to 
notice in his general orders of the next day. He 
was sorry, he said, that his soldiers should in a 
riotous manner pull down the statue of the King 



APPENDIX. 29S 

of Great Britain ; yet he could not but commend 
their zeal for defacing every monument of British 
tyranny. 

It has been a matter of surprise to some poli- 
ticians, that the people of Connecticut, who had 
no real grievance to complain of, should take so 
early and decided a part against the sovereignty 
of Britain, and exert themselves so exemplary in 
favor of the Bostonian tea-merchants, especially 
when, if the East India Company had been per- 
mitted to import that conjmodity, they would have 
been supplied with it at half.the price it usually 
cost them : but the wonder will instantly vanish, 
if it be considered, that this province was the 
seat of the annual convention of delegates from all 
the associations of protestant dissenters through- 
out America, whicli was first holden in I7b4, as I 
have related. Here their meetings were con- 
tinued year after year, without the least appre- 
hension of disturbance from a King's Governor; 
and here the arcana of the American vine, to- 
gether with the solemn league and covenant, 
were deposited. It is not to be supposed but 
that the political principles of this synod would 
gradually become the principles of the Sol:>er 
Dissenters in general; .nnd the proceedings of the 
latter, wh< n action was required, afford ;i clear 
proof i)oth of the na ure oftiiose priiicplt-s, and 
the enthusiasm with whi'-h th-'y had heon ado-pted^ 
Perhaps,, no people in tfse world liave beea so 



2d4 APPENDIX. 

much deceived as the commonalty of the English 
colonies in America. They were conscious of 
their happiness under the protection of Great 
Britain, and wished for no change in government. 
Ten years ago the great majority would sooner 
have run their heads against the burning moun- 
tains, than have lifted up a finger with a view to 
a political separation from Great Britain ; and 
yet they have been prevailed upon, by the inflam- 
matory effusions of the clergy, merchants, and 
lawyers, to commit a thousand mad excesses, run 
into open rebellion, and imbue their hands in 
civil blood, under the idea of opposing injury, op- 
pression, and slavery, though in reality to promote 
what has long been the grand aim of their insti- 
gators — Independence. 

Having been a witness of the effects of the con- 
ventions of Dissenters in New-England, particu- 
larly that I have just been speaking of as taking 
place at New-Haven in 1764, which was annually 
continued, without the least animadversion from 
any person in authority in Great Britain, notwith- 
standing the intent of it was wholly prejudicial 
to her interests ; I was the more mortified with 
the implied censure of a great man in very high 
oflice upon a meeting of the episcopal clergy, in 
his answer to an address they took the liberty to 
present to him, in the vain hope of its being pro- 
ductive of some benefit to the church in America, 
but, alas ! whose only fruit was a laconic letter 



APPENDIX. 293^ 

to the following purport : — " I have been honored 
with your address, and thank you for it ; but an* 
not acquainted by what authority you hold your, 
convention." The hauteur in this answer to such 
an assembly on such an occasion, however con- 
gruous with the pride and formality of office, was 
utterly repugnant to the dictates of policy. Bri- 
tain lost by it half her friends in New-England ; 
and I will presume to say, that Britain will lose 
all her friends in that country, whenever it shall 
be discovered that the sentiments of the English 
Parliament coincide, in that respect, with the 
sentiments of the writer. 

While Mr. Washington remained in possession 
of New- York, Connecticut served as a prison 
for those persons who had the misfortune to fall 
under his suspicion as disaffected to the cause of 
freedom. He was himself, however, at length 
obliged to evacuate it, by General Howe, to the 
great relief of such royalists as remained. 

In April 1777, some magazines having been forn^- 
ed by the Americans at Danbury and Ridgefield, 
Major-General Tryon was sent with 1800 men to 
carry off or destroy them. They reached the 
places of their destination with little opposition ; 
but the whole force of the country being collect- 
ed to obstruct his return, the General was obliged 
to set the stores on fire, by which means those 
towns were unavoidably burnt. David Wooster, 
the rebel General, Benedict Arnold's old acquaint- 



296 APPENDIX. 

ance and mobbirtg confederate, received a fatal 
ball through his bladder, as he was harrassing the 
rear of the royal troops ; of which, after being 
carried forty miles to New-Haven, he died, and was 
there buried by the side of the grave of David 
Dixwell, one of the Judges of Charle^i the Martyr. 
In the summer of 1779, tlie suffeniigs of the 
loyalists in Connecticut becoming too intolerable 
for longer endurance, General Sir Henry Clinton 
determined to attempt their lelief. Accordmgly,. 
he detached a large party under the command of 
General Tryon, which landed at New-Haven, 
after being opposed by a number of rebels under 
the command of the Rev, Naphthali Dagget, the 
president of Yale College, who, notwithstanding 
the moderation I have said marked his general 
character, was enthusiastic enough to hazard his 
life on this occasion. He lost it, and had the 
honor of being buried on Sodom Hill, near the 
grave of Dt aeon Potter, without a coffin. Hav- 
ing accomplished their purpose here, the troops 
sailed to Fairfield, which town they were necessi- 
tated, by the opposition of the rebels, to set fire 
to, before the loyalists coul;i be released from 
prison. General Tryon then repaired to Nor- 
walk, where having by proclamation enjoined the 
inhabitants to keep within their houses, h.e or- 
dered centinels t<» be stationed at every door, to 
prevent disorders ; a tenderness, however, they 
msuhed, by firing upoii the. very men vvha were 



APPKNDIX. 297 

thus appointed to guard them. Tlse consequence 
was, destruction to themselves and the whole 
town, which was laid in ashes. 

I have now mentioned the principal proceed- 
ings by which tlie people of Connecticut have dis- 
tinguished themselves in bringing on and sup- 
porting the rebellion of America ; and that, I 
apprehend, in a manner sufficiently particular to 
shew their violence, and to answer my purpose of 
giving the reader an idea of the present distracted, 
maimed state of the province, which many most 
respectable characters have been obliged to 
abandon, at the total loss of their property, to 
save their lives. It is very observable, that a pe- 
culiar, characteristic resolution appears to possess 
the people of Connecticut. As, on one hand, 
rebellion has erected her crest in that province 
with more insolence and vigor than in the rest; 
so, on the other, loyalty has there exhibited proofs 
of zeal, attachment, perseverance, and fortitude, 
far beyond example elsewhere to be found in 
America. In particular, the episcopal clergy 
have acquired immortal honor by their steady ad- 
herence to their oaths, and firmness under the 
"assaults of their enemies;" not a man amongst 
them all, in this fiery trial, having dishonored 
either the King or church of England by apostar 
cy. The sufferings of some of them I cannot 
wholly pass, over in silence. 

Among the greatest enemies to the cause of 



298 APPENDIX. 

the Sober Dissenters, and among the greatest 
friends to that of the church of England, the Rev. 
Mr. Peters stood conspicuous. I have already 
represented him as so well shielded by the friend- 
ship and esteem of the inhabitants of Hebron, 
where he resided, as to be proof against the 
common weapons of fanaticism and malice. The 
Governor and Council, therefore, entered the 
lists, and, anxious at all events to get rid of so 
formidable a foe, accused him of being a spy of 
Lord North's and the Bishops. This allegation 
was published by the Governor's order, in every 
republican pulpit in the colony, on Sunday, Au- 
gust 14th, 1774, which induced a mob of Patriots 
from Windham county to arm and surround his 
house the same night, in the most tumultuous 
manner, ordering the gates and doors to be open- 
ed. Mr. Peters, from his window, asked if they 
had a warrant from a magistrate to enter his 
house. They replied, "we have Joice's warrant 
which Charles the traitor submitted to, and is 
sufficient for you." Peters told them he had but 
one life to lose, and he would lose it in defence 
of his house and property. Finally after some 
further altercation, it was agreed that a commit- 
tee frcm the mob should search the house, and 
read all papers belonging to Mr. Peters. A com- 
mittee was accordingly nominated, who, after in- 
specting his papers as much as they pleased, re- 



APPENDIX. 2§9 

ported, " that they were satisfied Mr. Peters was 
not guilty of any crime laid to his charge." 

On Sunday the 4th of September, the country 
was alarmed by a letter from Colonel Putnam, de- 
claring " that Admiral Graves had burnt Bosion, 
and that General Gage was murdering old and 
young." The Governor of Connecticut took the 
liberty to add to Mr. Putnam's letter, " except 
churchmen and the addressers of Governor 
Hutchinson." The same day 40,000 men began 
their march from Connecticut to Boston, and re- 
turned the next, having heard that there was no 
truth in Putnam's reports. Dr. Bellamy thanked 
God for this false alarm, as he had thereby pointed 
out " the inhabitants of Meroz, who went not to 
the help of the Lord against the mighty." No 
churchmen, presbyterians, or Sandemanians, 
were among the 40,000 insurgents ; and that was 
judged to be sufficient proof of their disaffection 
to the liberties of America. The Governor seized 
this opportunity to set the mobs again, with re- 
doubled fury, upon the Rev. Mr. Peters, and the 
loyalists, whom they then cr lied Peterites; and 
the intoxicated ruffians spared neither their hou- 
ses, goods, nor persons. Some had their bowels 
CDvvded out of their bodies ; others were covered 
with filth, and marked w th the siiTn of the cross 
by a mop filled with excrements, in token of their 
loyalty to a kinf^ who designed to cm -ify all the 
good people of America. Even women were 



hung by the heels, tarred, and feathered. Mr. 
Peters, with his gown and clothes torn oft w.s 
treated in the most insulting manner : h.s moUier 
,l.„-r,hter, two brothers, and servants, were 
;::;£ one of his brothers so badly tl^ he 

died soon after. Mr, Peters was then obhg^ to 
abscond and fly to the royal army .n Boston 
from whence he went to England, by wh.ch 
l.ans he has hitherto preserved his hfe, though 
not his property, from the rapacous and bloody 
hands of his countrymen. The Rev Messrs. 
Mansfield and Viets were cast mto ja,l, and al- 
terwards tried for high treason against Amer.ca. 
Their real offence was charitably giv.ng victuals 
and blankets to loyalists flying from the rage o 
drunken mobs. They were not indeed conv.cted 
in so high a degree as the court -tended b^t 
were fined and imprisoned, to the rum of hem 
selves and families. The ^^v. Messrs. Graves 
Scovil, Dibblee, Nichols, Leam.ng, Beach, and 
divers others, were cruelly dragged through m.re 
„d dirt. In short, all the clergy of the church 
;ie infamously insulted, abused, and obhged to 
seek refuge in the mountains, t.ll the popular 
frenzy was somewhat abated. ... „„. 

Tn July, nT6, the congress having declared the 
independency of America and ordered the ^m- 
„„„wealth to be prayed for msteau of the Kmg 
and royal family, all the loyal episcopal churches 
north of the Delaware were shut up, except those 



APPENDIX. 301 

immediately under the protection of the British 
army, and one at Newtown, in Connecticut, of 
which last the Rev. Mr. John Beach was the rec- 
tor, whose grey hairs, adorned with loyal and 
christian virtues, overcame even the madness of 
the Sober Dissenters. This faithful disciple dis- 
regarded the congressional mandate, and praying 
for the King as usual, they pulled him out of his 
desk, put a rope about his neck, and drew him 
across Osootonoc river, at the tail of a boat, to 
cool his loyal zeal, as they called it ; after which 
the old Confessor was permitted to depart though 
not without a prohibition to pray longer for the 
King. But his loyal zeal was insuperable. He 
went to church, and prayed again for the King ; 
upon which the Sober Dissenters again seized 
hun, and resolved upon cutting out his tongue ; 
when the heroic veteran said, " If my blood 
must be shed, let it not be done in the house of 
God." The pious mob then dragged him out of 
the cTiurch, laid his neck on a bh;ck, and swore 
they w^ould cut off his head ; and indolently cry- 
ing out, " Now, you old Devil ! say your las^ 
prayer,'' — he prayed thus : " God bless King 
George, and forgive all his and inv enemies!'* 
At this unexpected and exaltt d display of chris- 
tian patience and charity, the m(-;,« so far relented 
as to discharge and never mol.?st him afterwards 
for adhering to the liturgy of the church of Eng- 

26 



302 AiPPENDlX. 

land and his ordination oath ; but they relaxed 
not tlieir severities towards the other clergymen, 
because, they said, younger consciences are more 
inflexible. 

I cannot conclude this work without remark- 
ing, what a contrast to tlie episcopal clergy of 
Connecticut, and especially to this illustrious ex- 
ample of the venerable Beach, is aflTorded by too 
many of those ;ri the provinces south of the Dela- 
ware. Here, whilst tfiey : uffered every thing but 
death for tenaciously adhering to their ordina- 
tion oaths; there, sotne of ihem, of more en- 
laro'ed consciences, wire not ashamed to commit 
perjury in prayer, and it b/llion in preaching, — 
though, be it renif-mbered, tiieir expressions 
were decent, whcii c<in)pared with those of the 
fanatics in New -England. The following prayer 
used by them before congress, after the declara- 
tion of independence, seems to me too likely to 
gratify the curiosity of my readers to be omitted. 
It brought the clergymen into disgrace merely by 
its moderation. 

" O LoKi>, our Heavenly father. King of Kings, 
and Lord of Lords, who dost from thy throne be- 
hold all the dwellers upon earth, and reignest, 
with power supreme and uncontrolled, over all 
kingdoms, empires, and governments; look down 
in mercy, we beseech thee, upon these our Ame- 
rican stales, who have fled to thee from the rod of 



APPENDIX. 303 

the oppressor, and thrown themselves upon thy 
gracious protection, desiring henceforth to be de- 
pendent only upon tliee. To thee have they ap- 
pealed for the righteousness of their cause ; to 
thee do they now look up for that countenance 
and support, which thou alone canst give. Take 
them, therefore, heavenly Father, under thy nur- 
turing care ; give them wisdom in council, valor 
in the field. Defeat the malicious designs of ouf 
cruel adversaries ; convince them of the unright- 
eousness of their cause ; and, if they still persist 
in their sanguinary purposes, O let the voice of 
thy unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, 
constrain them to drop the weapons of war from 
their enervated hands in the day of battle. Be 
thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the 
councils of this honorable assembly. Enable 
them to settle things upon the best and surest 
foundation; that the scenes of blood may be 
speedily closed ; that order, harmony, and peace, 
may effectually be restored, and truth and jus- 
tice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish 
amongst thy people. Preserve the health of their 
bodies, and the vigor of their minds ; shower down 
upon them, and the millions they represent, such 
temporal blessings as thou seest expedient for 
them in this wurld, and crown them with ever- 
lasting glory in the world to come. All this we 



S64 APPENDIX. 

ask, in the name and through the merits of Jesus 
Christ, thy Son, our Savior. Amen." 

I will not deny that rebels are to be found 
among the episcopal clergy north of the Dela- 
ware ; but they amount to five only, and not one 
©f them belongs to the colo»y of Connecticut, 



INDEX, 



A. 

Allen, Ethan, origin of his fame 98. Joins in the se« 
ciet expedition against Ticonderoga 289 

Amusements 235 

Argal, Sir Samuel, compels the Dutch at Manhattan to 
submit 26 

Arran, Earl of, claims part of Connecticut 37 

Ashford 130 

Assembly, General, chosen by the people 79 ; times of 
meeting 79. Their laws not to be repealed but by their 
own authority 81. Resolve to settle their lands on 
Susquehanna river 87. Hold a special meeting to 
consider of the stamp-act 249 ; vote that the Governor 
do not take the oath required by it ; and treat the po- 
pulace on its repeal 237. Conduct of, in regard to 
Col. Street Hall and the revolters 260, 261, 262 

B. 

Bays, the two principal 114 

Beacli, the Rev. Mr. joins the Church of England 171 ; 
ignominiously and most cruelly treated 301 ; his hero- 
ism 302 

Bear, a she one and cubs killed by General Putnam 
131, 132 

Bellamy, the Rev. Dr. some account of 145. Thankfc 
God for Gen. Putnam's false alarm 299 

Birds 193 

Bishop of London's authority derided by an American 
judge 143 

Bishops, their neglectful conduct in regard to America 
177. Animadversions upon, &c. 178 — 180. Noti- 
ces concerning 73, 175, 177, 217, 243^ 271, 275, 27G 

Blaxton,the Ref. Mr. particulars relating to, 60 note 

Blue Laws, specimen of G8 

Bolton 138 

Boston, peninsula of, obtained and occupied by the Rcv» 
Mr. Blaxton 60 note. Town of; founded 30, Its 
26* 



306 INDEX. 

port shut up 282. Attack meditated against it 29Q. 
Neck fortified by Gen. Gage 287, 290 

Bostvvick, the Rev. Mr. attacked by the mob 284 

Boundaries, disputes concerning 90 — 94 ; of Connecti- 
cut, as at present allowed 108 

Bramford 163 

Bribery, disallowed 236 

Briton, Mr. humorous story concerning him and a dea- 
con's daughter 226 

Brown, the Rev. Mr. declares for the Church of Eng- 
land 170 

Brownists set sail for America, and found Plymouth 3Q. 

Bulkley, the Rev. John, some account of 139, 140 

, the Rev. Peter, character of 139, 140 

Bull-fly described 195 

Bundling, singular custom of, justified 238 — 244 

Byles, Dr. Mather, disingenuous treatment of 232. 

C. 

Canaan lU' 

Cansez, American Indians, enjoy liberty in perfection 103 

Canterbury 133 

Caterpillars ravage the borders of Connecticut river 128 

Chandler, the Rev. Thomas Bradbury, where born 130 

Charter petitioned for privately 75, obtained 76, claim 
founded upon, and prevarications concerning it 45, 46, 
powers conferred by 79, strengthens notions of inde- 
pendence 82, formally surrendered by the colony to 
Sir Edmimd Andros 84, regained by a mob, hid in a 
tree, and re-assumed 85, violated by Geo. II. 94 

Chatham 137 

Church of England, the first erected in Connecticut 166, 
professors of the, amount of in 1770, 172, reason of 
tlieir great increase 1 70, their zeal 174, measures ad- 
verse to 175 

Clergy, Episcopal, in Connecticut, morality of 176, one- 
pnnished for not observing the Sabbath agreeable to 
notions of Sober Dissenters 225^ accused of writing 
falsehoods 276, acquire immortal honor, hy adhering 
to their ordination oaths 297, impolitic answer to an 
address presented by them tp>a. great man is high- of- 



£?(DK]r. 307 

lice 294, — immoral, anti-episcopal, and rebelliouf? 
conduct of some of them in the southern provinceslTS, 
177, 178, 276, 302. 

Colchester 139 

Cdlden, -— — , Lieut. Governor of New-York, grants 
lands in Verdmont 98 

Coldness of the winter in Connecticut accounted for 181 

Comic Liturgy, acted in Connecticut on occasion of the 
stamp-act 248 

Company for propagating the gospel in New England, 
charter obtained for the, and abuse of it 61, 62, 
note 

Commerce of Connecticut 199 

Connecticote, his kingdom 133, his conduct towards the 
settlers 60, his death 63 

Connecticut, its latitude and longitude 236, whence 
named 29, three parties of English adventurers arrive 
in 31, right to the soil of, considered 40 — 46, civil and 
religious establishments and proceedings of the first 
English settlers 47 — 66, forms a confederacy with New 
Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay 74, obtains a char- 
ter of incorporation 76, divided into counties, town- 
ships, (fcc. 79, 80, sketch of its religious-political free 
system since the charter 88 — 90, half the territory of^ 
granted to the Duke of York 77, its consequent loss of 
territory 78, 92, 93, dimensions of, as at present al- 
lowed 108, description of, at large 109 — 245, treat- 
ment English travellers meet with there from land- 
lords 103, proceedings of in regard to the stamp act 
244 — 265, to the tea act 279 — 282, to that for shut- 
ting the port of Boston 282^ 283, 6lc. commits the 
first overt act of high treason 290, abandoned by ma- 
ny of its most respectable inhabitants 296 

Connecticut river, description of, 109, astonishing nar-. 
row in it 111 

Conlingences, extraordinaryallowancefor 208, of what, 
sort some 233 

Convention,, grand continental, of dissenting ministers^., 
at New- Haven, notices concerning 162, 245, 293,294 

hooper,, the Rev; Miles, LL, D. narrowly escapes, the: 
fyrv of the mob at Neiv- York 29 1 



308 INDEX. 

Cornwall 146 

Cotton, the Rev. Mr. notices relating to 59, note 137 

Coventry 129 

Council of Plymouth, their grant, 26 

Courts instituted in Connecticut 79, 80. Cruehy of the 
ecclesiastical in New Enj^land 124 

Cuba, description of; an animal so called, and extraordi- 
nary qualities of male and female 190 

Cursette, Mrs. surprizing discovery of her will 153 

Customs of the people 2it3, borrowed of the Indians 237 
—■239 

Cutler, the Rev. Dr. declares for the Church of Eng- 
land 170 

D. 

Daggett, the Rev. Mr. Naphthali, character of 162, kill- 
ed 296 

Danbury 171, burnt 295 

Derby 165 

Davenport, the Rev. John, arrives at New-Haven 31, his 
church system 52 

Dead, buried with their feet to the west 119 

Dibblee, the Rev. Mr. cruelly treated 300 

Dixwell, buried at New-Haven 74, note 

Douolas, Dr. sCme account of 92 

Durham l65 

Dutch get footing on Manhattan island, but are com- 
pelled to submit by Argal 26, revolt 29 

Dyer, Mr. takes an active part in regard to the stamp 
'act 252—254 

E. 

East Haiden 137 
East Windsor. See Windsor 

Eaton, Mr. Theophilus, arrives at New-Haven 31, cho- 
sen Governor 52. His true chii racier pointed out 150 
Election, management of. in Connecticut 236 
Elliott, the Rev. Mr. some mention of, 125 
Enfield 137 

Expenditure of Connecticut 205 
Exports of Connecticut 1 99 



F. 

i^irfield 166. Burnt 296. 

Farmirjgton 141. 

Fen wick, Georjre, Esq. first arrives at Saybrook 31. 
His and associates' right to settle in Connecticut dis- 
cussed, and disproved 33 — 38. Disposes of his pro- 
perty in America, and returns to England 56. 

Fitch, Governor, his conduct on occasion of the stamp- 
act 247,253, 255^259. 

Fish of Connecticut 197. 

Franklin, Dr, notices concerning 247,248, 279. 

Frogs,, an amazing multitude, humorous stoFy of 126. 

G. 

Gage, General, arrives at Boston 282. Fortifies Bos- 
ton Neck 287, 290. In imnnnent danger of being 
surprised in Boston 289, 

Gates, Sir Thomas, and associates, account of their pa- 
tent 25. 

Gavelkind, custom of, prevails in Connecticut 234. 

General Assembly. See Assembly. 

General List, account and specimen of 206. 

Gibbs, the Rev. Mr. inhuman treatment of 142^.. 

Glastonbury 137. 

Glover, Mr. his wickedness in concealing Mrs. Curs- 
sette's will 153. 

Glow-bug, described 195. 

Goshen 146. 

Government, some account of 208,211. The clergy, 
merchants, and lawyers, the three grand parties in 
the state 211, 

Governments, bad pohcy of most 265. ^Ilj 

Graves, the Rev. Mr. cruel treatment of 300. ^^IB 

Great Barrington, why obnoxious to the mob 285. 

Greensmith, Mrs. the first per»on executed as a witch 
in America 134. 

Greenwich 166. 

Grenville, George, Esq. mobbed, hung, and burnt in ef^ 
fi^y 250, 251, note. 



310 INDKX. 

Grigson, Mr. very extraordinary concealment of his 

will 150. 
Groton 117. 
Guilford, described 163. 

H. 

Haddam 137. 

Hall, Colonel Street, chosen commander of a mob of 
' revolters against the General Asseml)ly, his conduct 

and extraordinary speech 259 — 262. 
Hamilton, Marquis of, his title to a part of Connecticut 

proved 36 — 38. 
Hancock, John, Esq. his dishonorable conduct in regard 

to Mrs. Cursette's will 153, 154. 
Hancock, Mr. his opposition to the tea*act, and artifice 

in disposing of his own stock 280 — 282. 
Hartland 146. 
Harvey, Mr. Joel, receives a premium from the Society 

of Arts in London 146. 
Harrison, Peter, Esq. his spirited and honorable con- 
duct in discovering Mr Grigson's will 151. 
, Major General Thomas, hanged at Charing 

Cross 139. 
Haynes, Mr. John, settles at Hertford 31. Voted Go- 
vernor 49. 
Hebron, description of 138. Refuses to contribute to 

the relief of the Bostonians, on the shutting up their 

port 383. 
Harrington 141. 
Hertford, first settlement there by the English 31. By 

what authority 40. Description of 133. Curiosities 

in it 135. 
Hooker, the Rev. Thomas, settles at Hertford 31. His 

motive for quitting Massachusetts-Bay 39. Church 

system 49, 136. 
Houling Wilderness, Connecticut improperly so called 

in 1636 100. 
H''et, the Rev. Mr. somiC mention of 138. 
Humble-bee, description of 196. 
Humility, a bird go called^ described 193, 



iNDEiC. ' 311 

I. 

Imports 201. 

Independence, idea of strengthened by charter 82. 
Symplorus of, iaan;fested by the colonists 246. Not 
the wish of the common people 294. But of their insti- 
gators, the clergy, merchants, and lawyers 273, 294. 
Formally declared by Congress 300. 

Indians, their mode of counting 45, note. Number of 
them killed in Ilispaniola, Porto Rico, and South 
America, and in Connecticut and Massachusetts-Bay 
100. In the whole of North America and West India 
Islands 101. Their aversion to the protestant reli- 
gion 218. 

Ingersoll, David, Esq. barbaroMsly treated 285. 

Ingersoll Ja red, Esq. mobbed, and forced to resign his 
post of stamp-master 249. Hung and burnt in effigy 
250, note. 

Inhabitants of Connecticut 198. Their hospitality to- 
war(!s strangers 224. Of the men 237. Of the wo- 
men 237. 

Insects 195. 

John.^on, Dr. Samuel, character of 163. Declares for 
the church of England 170. Treacherous embassy 
of his son 290. 

Joshua, a pretended Sachem 41. 

K. 

Kent 146. > 

Killingsley 130. 

Killingsworth 125. 

King's statue, at New- York, destroyed 292. 

L. 

Laws Blue, specimen of, 68. Other laws 80, 218. 
Law suits, amazing number of 211, 221, 222. Re- 

miikabie nature of some of them 222. 
Latitude and longitude of Connecticut 181. 
Lea . injT, the Rev. Mr. cruelly treated 300. 
Leb:iiion 129. 
Litchfield, described 144. 



$li iKdex. 

Little Isaac, a nickname given to the Americans 197. 
Lyme 119. 

M. 

Manners of the people 223. 

Mansfield, the Rev. Mr. tried for high treason 300. 

Mansfield fowri 1.30. 

Manufactures of Connecticut 199. 

Mason, his claim to land in Connecticut 42. 

Massachusetts- Bay, settled by puritans 30. Loses part 
of its territory 95. 

Merret, Mr. his shigular treatment on a chaige of in- 
cest 123. 

Middletown, described 137. 

Milford 163. 

Mill, curious, invented by Mr. Joel Harvey 146. 

Minister, Sober-dissenting, manner of settling and dis- 
missing 230. 

Moodus, a pretended Sachem 41. 

Moore, Sir Henry, begins to regrant Verdmont 97. 

Motte, treacherously sent against Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point 289.' 

Mozley, the Rev. Mr. fined for mairying a couple of 
his own parishioners 143. 

N. 

Neal, Rev. Mr. his representation about Sunksquaw, 
Uncas, Joshua, Moodus, &c. exploded 41 — 43, 66^ 
67. Refutation of his doctrine concerning synods 121. 
A sacramental test 213, 214. The loyalty of the New- 
Englanders 216. His enmity against the Society for 
the Propagation of the Gospel exposed 217. Notices 
concerning 31. Note 38, 39, 43, 62. Note 84, 99, 
116. 

Negro, tried for castration 81. Negro slaves, their hard 
case 101. 

Neil, Mr. 167. 

Nevi^-England, the Massachusetts country first so called 
by Charles, prince of Wales 25. Divisions of 26 — 28, 
Cause of its first settlement discussed 99. 

New-Fairfeld 146, 



INDEX. 313 

New- Hampshire, deprived of territory 95, 96. 
New-Haven, first settled by the Enghsh 32. Totally 
without authority 40. Early proc^eedinsfs 66, Blue 
Laws 67. State of, after the death of CroDiweil 75. 
Accedes to the charter 76. Particnlar description 
of 147. A ship fitted out to procure a patent, and 
wonderful consequence 148, 149. 
New-Hertford 146, 

New-Lights, notices concerning 90, 213 — 215. 
New-London described 116. Port of, well calculated 

for tlie grand emporium of Connecticut 203. 
New-Milford 145. 
N-ewtown 171. 
^ New-York gains land from Connecticut 78, 92, 93 ; 
from Massachusetts-Bay and New-Han»p?hire 95, 06, 
122. Constitution of, subverted by the Sober Dis- 
senters 291. 
Nichols, Col. deprives Connecticut of Long Island 78. 

, the E.ev. Mr. cruelly treated 300. 

Norwalk 166. Burnt 296. 
Norwich, description of 118. 

O 

Old Lights, notices concerriirig 90, 213 — 215. 
Oneko, a king of Mohegiij 42. 

Onions, vast quantity raised in Weatliorsfield 136 : beds 
of, weeded by the young femr.les of Wethersfield 136. 
Osootonoc river, description of 1 14. 

P. 

Parsons, Hugh, fonnd guilty of witchcraft 135. 

Pawwaw, anrient lnd;an rite, celebration of at Strat- 
ford described 167. 

Peters, the Rev. Hugh, account of himself and family 57, 
note. 

, the Rev. Samuel, account of 139, 283, 289, 299. 

, the Rev. Thomas, his arrival at Saybrook 31 ; 

chijirch systetn 47 ; school 57 ; character 58, some 
particulars of his life, ibid note. 

, William, particulars relating to 58 — 61, note. 



97 



314 INDEX. 

Phelps treacherously sent on an expedition against Ti- 
conderoga and Crown Point 289. 

Pitt, Mr. a churchman, whipped for not attending meet- 
ing 220. 

Plainfield 133. 

Plymouth, New, founded 30. 

Pomeroy, Rev. Dr. character of 139. 

Pomfret 130. 

Population 198. 

Pork, unfair dealing in 201. 

Potter, Deacon, unjustly convicted of beastiality 155. 

Poultry of Contiecticut 193. 

Presbyterians, disliked and ill-treated by Sober Dissen- 
ters 133, 209. 

Preston 118. 

Produce of Connecticut 1 84. 

Prayer of some of the episcopal clergy in the southern 
provinces before Congress 302. 

Pumpkin, hair cut by the shell of 154. 

Pumpkin-heads, a name given to the New-Englanders 
154, 155. 

Punderson, the Rev. Mr. joins the church of England 
171. 

Putnam, General, curious anecdotes of, 131. Kills a 
bear and cubs 132. His narrow escape from the In- 
dians 132, terrible to them 133. Alarms the country 
by a letter concerning Admiral Graves and General 
Gage 298. 

Q. 

Quackery triumpliant 144. 

Quaker, shrewd retort of one upon his judges 90. 
Quinnipiog, kingdom of 146. Refuses to grant iand to 
the settlers, and is murdered 65, 66. 

R. 

Rattle-snake, some account of 196. Useof its skin 237. 

Reading 171. 

Rebellion, true sources of in America 267 — 277. 

Koligion, the established 80. 

Reptiles 196. 



INDEX. 315 

Revenue 205. Objections against raising in America 

264. 
Rhode-Island, infamous law of the General Assembly 

of 1 73. 
Ridgefield, 171. Burnt 295. 
Rivers, the three principal described 109 — ll4. 
ilivington, Mr. plundered 292. 

S. 

Sabbath, rigidly observed 225. How broken by an 
episcopal clergyman 226. 

Salary ofthe Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Treasur- 
er, &LC. 208. 

Salisbury 146. 

Sandeman, the Rev. Mr. doctrine of 172. 

Sassacus, sachem of the Pequods, his kingdom and cha- 
racter 1 14. 

Saybrook, founded 31. Described 120. Its civil and 
religious establishments 47. Early proceedings 54. 
Enters into confederacy 74. Refuses to send agents 
to England, to oppose the king 56. Forms an alli- 
ance with Hertford 57, and joins in a secret applica- 
tion for a charter 75. 

Saybrool- Platform, some account of 120. 

Scovil, the Rev. Mr. cruel treatment of 300. 

Seabury, Rev. Dr. taken prisoner 291. 

Sects, religious, in Connecticut, some account of 208. 

Sharon, famous for a mill 146. 

Ship, wonderful story of one fitted out at New-Haven 
148. 

Sick, horrid mode of visiting 232. 

Skunk, description and wonderful property of 191. 

Smith, the Rev. Mr. notices of 63, 137. 

, William, notices concerning 91, 92, 93, 98, 107, 

180,276. 

Sober Dissenters, religion of, established in Connecticut 
80. Their uncandid conduct towards Episcopalians, 
Anabaptists, Quakers, &-c. in regard to parish rates 
219, and their severe treatment of Mr. Gibbs for re- 
fusing to pay them 142. Tiioir humanity ta sick 



216 INDEX. 

strangers and persons shipwrecked 233. Partial sup- 
port of 233 

Society for the Propagation of the Grospel in Foreign 
Parts, notices concerning 57 note, 175, 176, 177,216,. 
217,276, 97, 170, 245 

Soil 184 

Sommers 138 

Stafford, the New England Bath 141 

Stamford 166 

Stamp act, proceedings and opinions relating to, in Con- 
necticut 244 — 265 

Stirling, E. of his claim to part of Connecticut 35 

Stonington 118 

Stratford, description of, 166 

, river 1 14 

Strong, the Rev. Mr. Nehemiah 163 

Superstition, striking instance of 210 

Sunksquaw, pretended sachem 41, 42, 66 

Suffield 137 

Symshury mines, account of 141 

T. 

Tea, act for sending to America, violently opposed 279.. 
280 

Temple, Mr. seditious letters imputed to 279 

Test, sacramental, unnecessary in New England 213 

Thames river, described 109 

Ticonderoga, secret expedition against 290 

Tolland 138 

Torrington 146 

Travellers, English, how treated by landlords in Cor> 
necticut 105 

Tree-frog, agility of 1 97 

Trumbidl, Governor, furnishes a dress for the effigy of 
Mr. Grenville 250 note, writes an insidious letter to 
Gen. Gage 287, adds to an alarming one from Gen. 
Putnam 299, and spirits up the mob against the loy- 
alists 299 

Tryon, Governor, his character 106 — 108, escapes the 
mob at New- York 291, burns JDanbury and Ridge- 



tield 295, releases the prisoners at New-Haven 296, 
burns Fairlieltl and Norwa'k 29Q 

u. 

Uncas, pretended sachem 41, 42 
Union 130 

V. 

Veidmont, account of 96 — 100 

Viets, the Rev. Mr. tried for high treason oOO 

Visey, the Rev. Mr. suppresses the Indian Pavvwaw at 

Stratford 168 
Voluntown 133 

W. 

Wallingford description of 165 

Warwick, Earl of, his title to the soil of any part of Con- 
necticut, disproved 33 — 38 
Wdterbury 165 
Weathersfield, description of 136, singular industry of 

the females there 136 
Wentworth, Benning, Esq. grants townships in Verd- 

mont 96 
Whapperknocker, description of 189 
Wheelock, Dr. Eleazar, notices concerning 62, note 12& 
¥/hipperwill, descri])tion of 194 

Whitetield, the R-ev. George, anecdote of 117, and cha- 
racter 164. Attempts to work a miracle atSaybrook 
125. His character of the people of Norwich 119, 
of those of Hebron 138, of Guilford 164, of Con- 
necticut in general 1 74, 224 
Whitmore, the Rev. Mr. declares for the Church of 

England 170 
Will, scandalous concealment of Mr. Giigson's 150, of 

Mrs. Cursetle's 153 
Wiliington 130 
Winchester 146 
Windham 126^ inhabitants of terribly alarmed by frogs 

12-; 
Windsor, described, 137 
Wolf ott, Oliver, treacherous ambassv of 290 

27^ 



313 INDEX. 

Wooodbury 145. 

Woodchuck, description of 189 

Woodstock 130 

Woester, General, mortally wounded 295 

Y. 

Yale College, account of, 157 — 163, retort of its Cor 
poration upon the General Assembly 86 

York, Duke of, obtains a grant including half of Con- 
necticut 77. 



SUPP1.EMENT. 



Note A. 
About two years after he made a second voyage 
to the river, in the service of a number of Dutch 
merchants 5 and, some time after, made sale of 
his right to the Dutch. The right to the coun- 
try, however^ was antecedently in kmg James, by 
virtue of the discovery which Hudson had made 
under his commission. The English protested 
against the sale ; but the Dutch, in i6l4, under 
the Amsterdam West India Company, built a fort 
nearly on the same ground where the city of Al- 
bany now is, which they called fort Aurania. Sir 
Thomas Dale, governor of Virginia, directly after 
dispatched captain Argall to dispossess the 
Dutch, and they submitted to the king of Eng- 
land, and under him, to the governor of Vir- 
ginia. 

Note B. 
November 3d, 1620, just before the arrival of 
Mr. Robinson's people in New-England, king 
James the first, by letters patent, under the great 
seal of England, incorporated the duke of Lenox, 
the marquises of Buckingham and Hamilton, the 
earls of Arundel and Warwick, and others, to the 
number of forty noblemen, knights and gentle- 
men, by the name of "the council established at 
Plymouth in the county of Devon, for the plant- 
ing, ruling and gover.iing of New-England in 
America"—" and granted unto them, and their 



320 aCPFLFMENT. 

successors and assigns, all that part of America, 
1}' ng uad being in breadth from forty (degrees 
of north latitude, from the equinoctial line, to the 
forty-eighth degree of said north latitude inclu- 
sively, and in leiigth of, and vv ithin all the breadth 
aforesaid, throughout the ma'ii lands from sea to 
sea." The patent orda ned that this tract of 
country should be called New-England in Ame- 
rica, and by that name have continuance forever. 

Note C. 
The same year in which the patent of Massa- 
chusetts received the royal confirmation, Mr. John 
Endicott was sent over, with about three hun- 
dred people, by the patentees, to prepare the 
way for the settlement of a permanent colony in 
that part of New-England. They arrived at 
Naumkeak in June, and began a settlement, which 
they named Salem. This was the first town in 
Massachusetts, and the second in New-England. 

Note D. 

Nearly at the same time, Oct. 8, 1635, Mr. 
John Winthrop, son of governor \Vinthroj>, of 
Massachusetts, arrived at Boston, with a commis- 
sion from lord Say and Seal, lord Brook, and 
other noblemen and gentlemen interested in the 
Connecticut patent, to erect a fort at the mouth 
of Connecticut river. Their lordships sent over 
men, ordnance, ammunition, and i2,O0O pounds 
sterling, for the accomplishment of their design. 

Mr. Winthrop was directed by his commission, 
immediately on his arrival, to repair to Connecti" 
c^t, with fifty able men, and to erect the fortifi- 
cations, and to build houses for the garrison, and 
for gentlemen who might come over into Con- 
necticut. They were first to build houses for 



SUPPLEMENT. 321 

iheir then present accommodation, and after that, 
such as should be suitable for the reception of 
men of quality. The latter were to be erected 
within the fort. It was required that the plan- 
ters, at the beginning, should settle themselves 
near the mouth of the river, and set down in bo- 
dies, that they might be in a situation for en- 
trenching and defending themselves. The com- 
mission made provision for the reservation of a 
thousand or fifteen hundred acres of good land, 
for the maintenance of the fort, as nearly adjoin- 
ing to it as might be with convenience. 

Mr. Winthrop, having intelligence that the 
Dutch were preparing to take possession of the 
mouth of the river, ns soon as he could engage 
twenty men, and furnish them with provisions, 
dispatched them in a small vessel, of about thirty 
tons, to prevent their getting the command of the 
river, and to accomplish the service to which he 
had been appointed. 

But a few days after the party sent by Mr. 
Winthrop, arrived at the mouth of the river, a 
Dutch vessel appeared ott' the harbor, from New- 
Netherlands, sent on purpose to take possession of 
the entrance of the river, and to erect fortifications. 
The English had, by this time, mounted two pieces 
of cannon, and prevented their landing. Thus, 
providentially, was this fine tract of country pre- 
served for our venerable ancestors, and their pos- 
terity. 

Mr. Winthrop was appointed governor of the 
river Connecticut, and the parts adjacent, for the 
term of one year. He erected a fort, built houses, 
and made a settlement, according to his instruc- 
tions. One David Gardiner, an expert engineer^ 
assisted in the work, planned the fortifications^ 
and was appointed lieutenant of the fort> 



322 SUPPLEMENT. 

Mr. Davenport and others, who afterwards set- 
tled New-Haven, were active in this affair, and 
hired Gardiner, in behalf of their lordships, to 
come into New-England and assist in this busi- 
ness. 

As the settlement of the three towns on Con- 
necticut river was begun before the arrival of Mr. 
Winthrop, and the designs of their lordships to 
make plantations upon it was known, it was 
agreed, that the settlers on the river should either 
remove, upon full satisfaction made, by their lord- 
ships, or else sufficient room should be found for 
them and their companies at some other place. 

Note E. 
While these plantations were forming in the 
south-western part of Connecticut, another com- 
menced on the west side of the mo'.;th of (Con- 
necticut river. A fort had been built here in 
1635 and 1636, and preparations had been made 
for the reception of gentlemen of quality ; but 
the war with the Pequots, the uncultivated state 
of the country, and the low condition of the co- 
lony, prevented the coming of any principal cha- 
racter from England, to take possession of a 
township, and make settlements in this tract. 
Until this time, there had been only a garrison of 
about twenty men in the place. They had made 
some small improvement of the lands, and erected 
a few buildings in the vicinity of the fort ; but 
there had been no settlement of a plantation with 
civil privileges. But about midsummer, Mr. 
George Fenwick, with his lady and family, arrived 
in a ship of 250 tons. Another ship came in 
company with him. They were both for Quinni- 
piack. Mr. Fenwick and others, came over with 
a view to take possession of a large tract upon 



SUPPLF.MENT. 32S 

the river, in behalf of theiv lordships, the original 
patentees, and to pknt a T'.vvn at the mouth of 
the river. A settimtnt was soon made, and 
named Saybrook, in honor of their lordships, 
Say and Seal and Brook. Mr. Feiiwick, Mr. 
Thomas Peters, who was the first minister in the 
plantation, captain Gardiner, Thomas Lefling- 
wejj; Tijomas Tracy, and captain John Mason, 
were some of the principal planters. 

Noi E F. 

In July, 1633. Mr. Winslow and Mr. Bradford 
therefore made a journey to Boston, to confer with 
governor Winthrop and his council, on the sub- 
ject. Governor Winslow and Mr. Bradford pro- 
posed it to them, to join with Plymouth, in a trade 
to Connecticut, for hemp and beaver, and to erect 
a house f«>r the purposes of commerce. It was 
represented as necessary, to prevent the Dutch 
from taking possession of that fine country, who, 
it was reported, were about to build upon the ri- 
ver : but governor Winthrop declined the motion : 
he objected that it was not proper to make a 
plantation there, because there were three or 
four thousand vvarlike Indians upon the river; and 
because the bar at the mouth of it was such, that 
small pinnaces only could enter it at high water; 
and because that, seven months in the year, no 
vessels could go into it, by reason of the ice, and 
the violence of the stream. 

The Plymouth people therefore determined to 
undertake the enterprise at their own risk. Pre*- 
parations were made for erecting a trading house, 
and establishing a small company upon the river. 
In the meantime the master of a vessel from Mas- 
sachusetts, who was trading at New-Netherlands, 
shewed to Walter Van Twiller, the Dutch gover- 



324 SUPPLEMENT. 

nor, the commission which the English had to 
trade and settle in New-England ; and that his 
majesty the king of England, had granted all 
these parts to his own subjects. He therefore 
desired that the Dutch would not build at Con- 
necticut. This appears to have been done at the 
direction of governor Winthrop ; for, in conse- 
quence of it, the Dutch governor wrote a very 
complaisant letter to him, in which he represent- 
ed, that the lords, the States General, had granted 
the same country to the West India company. 
He requested therefore, that the English would 
make no settlements at Connecticut, until the af- 
fair should be determined between the court of 
England, and the States General. This appears 
to have been a piece of policy in the Dutch go- 
vernor, to keep the English still, until the Dutch 
had got a firm footing upon the river. 

Several vessels, this year, went into Connecti- 
cut river to trade. John Oldham, fr* m Dorches- 
ter, and three men with him, also travelled 
through the wilderness to Connecticut, to view 
the country, and trade with the Indians. The 
sachem upon the river made him most welcome, 
and gave him a present in beaver. He found 
that the Indian hem}) grew spontaneously in the 
meadows, in great abundance ; he purchased a 
quantity ot it; and, upon trial, it appeared much 
to exceed the hemp which grew in England. 

William Holmes, of Plymouth, with his compa- 
ny, having j)repared the frame of a house, with 
boards and materials for covering it immediately, 
put them on board a vessel, and sailed for Con- 
necticut. Holmes jiad a commission from the 
governor of Plymouth, and a chosen conijany to 
accomplisli his design. When he came into the 
river, he found that the Dutch had got in before 



SUPPLEMENT. , 325 

him, made a light fort, and planted two pieces of 
cannon : this was erected at the place since call- 
ed Hartford. The Dutch forbid Holmes' going 
up the river, stood by their cannon, ordered him 
to strike his colors, or they would fire upon him ; 
but he was a man of spirit, assured them that he 
had a commission from the governor of Plymouth 
to go up the river, and that he must obey his or- 
ders ; they poured out their threats, but he pro- 
ceeded, and landing on the west side'of the river, 
erected his house a little below the mouth of the 
little river in Windsor. The house was covered 
with the utmost despatch, and fortified with pa- 
lisadoes. The sachems, who were the original 
owners of the soil, had been driven from this 
part of the country, by the Pequots ; and were 
now carried home on board Holmes' vessel. Of 
them the Plymouth people purchased the land on 
which they erected their house. This, governor 
Wolcott says, was the first house erected in Con- 
necticut. The Dutch, about the same time, 
erected a trading house at Hartford, which they 
called the hirse of good hope. 

It was with great difficulty that Holmes and his 
company erected and fortified their house, and 
kept it afterwards. The Indians were offended 
at their bringing home the original proprietors, 
and lords of the country, and the Dutch that they 
had settled there, and were about to rival them 
in trade, and in the possession of those excellent 
lands upon the river : they v/ere obliged there- 
fore to combat both, and to keep a constant 
watch upon them. 

The Dutch, before the Plymouth people took 
possession of the river, had invited them in an 
amicable manner, to trade at Connecticut; but 
when they were apprised that they were making 

28 



326 SUPPLEMENT. 

preparations for a settlement there, they repented 
of the invitation, and spared no exertions to pre- 
vent them. 

On the 8th of June, the Dutch had sent Jacob 
VanCurter, to purchase lands upon the Connecti- 
cut. He made a purchase of about twenty acres 
at Hartford, of Nepuquash, a Pequot captain. 
Of this the Dutcli took possession in October, 
and on the 25th of the month, Curter protested 
against William Holmes, the builder of the Ply- 
mouth house. Some time afterwards, the Dutch 
governor, Walter Van Twiller, of fort Amsterdam, 
dispatched a reinforcement to Connecticut, de- 
signing to drive Holmes and his company from 
the river. A band of seventy men, under arms, 
with banners displayed, assaulted the Plymouth 
house, but they found it so well fortified, and the 
men who kept it so vigilant and determined, that 
it could not be taken without bloodshed : they 
therefore came to a parley, and finally returned 
in peace. 

Note G. 
About the beginning of June, 1636, Mr. Hooker, 
Mr. Stone, and about a hundred men, women and 
children, took their departure from Cambridge, 
and travelled more than a hundred miles through 
a hideous and trackless wilderness, to Hartford. 
They had no guide but their compass; made 
their way over mountains, through swamps, thick- 
ets, and rivers, which were not passable but with 
great difficulty. They had no cover but the 
heavens, nor any lodgings but those which sim- 
ple nature aflforded them. They drove with 
them a hundred and sixty head of cattle, and by 
the way subsisted on the milk of their cows. 
Mrs. Hooker was borne through the wilderness 



SUPPLEMENT. 327 

Upon a litter. The people generally carried their 
packs, arms, and some utensils. They were near- 
ly a fortnight on their journey. 

Note H. 
While the planters of Connecticut were thus 
exerting themselves ii\ prosecuting and regulating 
the affairs of that colony, another was projected 
and settled at Quinnipiack, afterwards called 
New-Haven. On the 2Gth of July 1637, Mr. 
John |Davenport, Mr. Samuel Eaton, Theophilus 
Eaton and Edward Hopkins, Esquires, Mr. Thomas 
Gregson and many others of good characters and 
fortunes arrived at Boston. Mr. Davenport had 
been a famous minister in the city of London, 
and was a distinguished character for piety, learn- 
ing, and good conduct. Many of his congrega- 
tion, on account of the esteem which they had for 
his person and ministry, followed him into New- 
England. Mr. Eaton and Mr. Hopkins had been 
merchants in London, possessed great estates, 
and were men of eminence for their abilities and 
integrity. The fame of Mr. Davenport, the repu- 
tation and good estates of the principal gentle- 
men of his company, made the people of the 
Massachusetts exceedingly desirous of their set- 
tlement in that commonwealth. Great pains 
were taken, not only by particular persons and 
towns, but by the general court, to fix them in 
the colony. Charlestown made them large offers 5 
and Newbury proposed to give up the whole 
town to them. The general court offered them 
any place which they should choose. But they 
were determined to plant a distant colony. By 
the pursuit of the Pequots to the westward, the 
English became acquainted with that fine tract 
along the shore, from Saybrook to Fairfield, and 



328 SUPPLEMENT. • 

with its several harbors. It was represented as 
fruitful, and happily situated for navigation and 
commerce. The company therefore projected a 
settlement in that part of the country. 

In the fall of 1637, Mr. Eaton, and others, who 
were of the company, made a journey to Con- 
necticut, to explore the lands and harbors on the 
sea coast. They pitched upon Quinnipiack for 
the place of their settlement. They erected a 
poor hut, in which a few men subsisted through 
the winter. 

On the 30th of March, 1638, Mr. Davenport, 
Mr Prudden, Mr. Samuel Eaton, and Theophilus 
Eaton, Esq. with the people of their company, 
sailed from Boston for Quinnipiack. In about a 
fortnight they arrived at the desired port. On 
the 14th of April, they kept their first sabbath in 
the place. The people assembled under a large 
spreading oak, and Mr. Davenport preached to 
them from Matthew vi. 1. He insisted on the 
temptations of the wilderness, made such obser- 
vations, and gave such directions and exhorta- 
tions as were pertinent to the then present state 
of his hearers. He left this remark. That he en- 
joyed a good day. 

Note I. 
While the colonists were thus prosecuting the 
business of settlement, in New-England, the right 
honorable James, marquis of Hamilton, obtained 
a grant from the council of Plymouth, April 20th, 
1635, of all that tract of country, which lies be- 
tween Connecticut river and Narraganset river 
and harbor, and from the mouths of each of said 
rivers northward sixty miles into the country. 
However, by reason of its interference with the 
grant to the lord Sav and Seal, lord Brook, &c., 



SUPPLEMENT. 329 

or for some other reason, the deed was never exe- 
cuted. The marquis made no settlement upon 
the land and the claim became obsolete. 

Note K. 

Such numbers were constantly emigrating to 
New-England, in consequence of the persecution 
of the puritans, that the people at Dorchester, 
Waterto wn and Newtown, began to be much 
straitened, by the accession of new planters. By 
those who had been at Connecticut they had re- 
ceived intelligence of the excellent meadows up- 
on the river ; they therefore determined to remove 
and once more brave the dangers and hardships 
of making settlements in a dreary wilderness. 

Upon application to the general court for the 
enlargement of their boundaries, or for liberty to 
remove, they, at first, obtained consent for the 
latter. However, when it was afterwards disco-, 
vered, that their determination was to plant a 
new colony at Connecticut, there arose a strong 
opposition; so that when the court convened in 
September, there was a warm debate on the sub- 
ject, and a great division between the houses. 
Indeed, the whole colony was afiected with the 
dispute. 

Mr. Hooker, who was more engaged in the en- 
terprise than the other ministers, took up the af- 
fair and pleaded for the people. He urged, that 
they were so straitened for accommodations for 
their cattle, that they could not support the mi- 
nistry, neither receive, nor assist any more of 
their friends, who might come over to them. He 
insisted that the planting of towns so near to» 
gether, was a fundamental error in their policy. 
He pleaded the fertility and happy accommoda- 
tions of Connecticut : that settlements upon the 

28* 



330 SUPPLEMENT. 

river were necessary to prevent the Dutch and 
others from possessing themselves of so fruitful 
and important a part of the country ; and that the 
minds of the people were strongly inclined to 
plant themselves there, in preference to every 
other place, which had come to their knowledge. 

On the other side it was insisted. That in point 
of conscience they ought not to depart, as they 
were united to the Massachusetts as one body, 
and bound by oath to seek the good of that com- 
monwealth : and that on principles of policy it 
could not, by any means, be granted. It was 
pleaded, that as the settlements in the Massachu- 
setts were new and weak, they were in danger of 
an assault from their enemies : that the depar- 
ture of Mr. Hooker and the people of those 
towns, would not only draw off many from the 
Massachusetts, but prevent others from settling 
in the colony. Besides, it was said, that the re- 
moving of a candlestick was a great judgment : 
that by suffering it they should expose their 
brethren to great danger, both from the Dutch 
and Indians. Indeed, it was affirmed that they 
might be accommodated by the enlargements of- 
fered them by the other towns. 

After a long and warm debate, the governor, 
two assistants, and a majority of the representa- 
tives, were for granting liberty for Mr. Hooker 
and the people to transplant themselves to Con- 
necticut. The deputy governor however and six 
of the assistants were in the negative, and so no 
vote could be obtained. 

Note L. 
The next May, the Newtown people determin- 
ing to settle at Connecticut, renewed their appli- 
cation to the general court, and obtained liberty 



SUPPLEMENT. 331 

to remove to any place which they should chose, 
with this proviso, that they should continue under 
the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts. 

Note M. 

It was the opinion of the principal divines, who 
settled New-England and Connecticut, that in 
every church, completely organized, there was a 
pastor, teacher, ruling elder, and deacons. These 
distinct offices they imagined were clearly taught 
in those passages, Romans xii. 7, 1 Cor. xii. 28, 
1 Timothy V. 17, and Ephesians iv. 11. From 
these they argued the duty of all churches, which 
were able, to be thus furnished. In this manner 
were the churches of Hartford, Windsor, Nevv- 
Haven, and other towns organized. The church- 
es, which were not able to support a pastor and 
teacher, had their ruling elders and deacons. 
Their ruling elders were ordained with no less 
solemnity, than their pastors and teachers. Where 
no teacher could be obtained, the pastor per- 
formed the duties both of pastor and teacher. 
It was the general opinion, that the pastor's work 
consisted principally in exhortation, in working 
upon the will and affections. To this the whole 
force of his studies was to be directed ; that, by 
his judicious, powerful, and affectionate addresses, 
he might win his hearers to the love and practice 
of the truth. But the teacher was doctor in 
ecclesia, whose business it was to teach and ex- 
plain, and defend, the doctrines of Christianity. 
He was to inform the judgment, and advance the 
work of illumination. 

The business of the ruling elder was to assist 
the pastor in the government of the church. He 
was particularly set apart to watch over all its 
members : to prepare and bring forward all cases 



332 SUPPLEMENT. 

of discipline ; to visit and pray with the sick ; 
and, in the absence of the pastor and teacher, to 
pray with the congregation and expound the 
scriptures. 

The pastors and churches of New-England 
maintained with the reformed churches in general, 
that bishops and presbyters were only different 
names for the same office ; and that all pastors, 
regularly separated to the gospel ministry, were 
scripture bishops. They also insisted, agreeably 
to the primitive practice, that the work of every 
pastor was confined, principally, to one particular 
church and congregation, who could all assemble 
at one place, whom he could inspect, and who 
could all unite together in acts of worship and 
discipline. Indeed the first ministers of Connec- 
ticut and New-England at first maintained, that 
all the pastor's office power was confined to his 
own church and congregation, and that the ad- 
ministering of baptism and Lord's supper in other 
churches was irregular. 

With respect to ordination, they held, that it 
did not constitute the essentials of the ministerial 
office ; but the qualifications for office, the elec- 
tion of the church, guided by tlie rule of Christ, 
and the acceptance of the pastor elect. Says 
Mr. Hooker, " Ordination is an approbation of 
the officer, and solemn sitting and confirmation 
of him in liis office, by prayer and laying on of 
hands." It was viewed, by the ministers of New- 
England, as no more than putting the pastor 
elect into office, or a solemn recommending of 
him and his labors to the blessings of God. It 
was the general opinion, that elders ought to lay 
on hands in ordination, if there were a presbytery 
in the church, but if there were not, the church, 
mio"ht appoint some other elders, or a number of 
the rebth rento that service. 



suppeement. 333 

Note N. 

On the fourth of June, all the free planters at 
Q,uinnipiack convened in a large barn of Mr. 
Newman's, and, in a very formal and solemn man- 
ner, proceeded to lay the foundations of their ci- 
vil and religious polity. 

Mr. Davenport introduced the business, by a 
sermon from the words of the royal preacher, — 
" Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn 
out her seven pillars." His design was to show, 
that the church, the house of God, should be 
formed of seven pillars, or principal brethren, to 
whom all the other members of the church should 
be added. After a solemn invocation of the Di- 
vine Majesty, he proceeded to represent to the 
planters, that they were met to consult respecting 
the settlement of civil government according to 
the will of God, and for the nomination of per- 
sons, who, by universal consent, were, in all re- 
spects, the best qualified for the foundation work 
of a church. He enlarged on the great impor- 
tance of the transactions before them, and desired 
that no man would give his voice in any matter, 
until he fully understood it; and, that all would 
act, without respect to any man, but give their 
vote in the fear of God. He then proposed a 
number of questions in consequence of which the 
following resolutions were passed. 

I. That the scriptures hold forth a perfect rule 
for the direction and government of all men in all 
duties which they are to perform to God and 
men, as well in families and commonwealth, as in 
matters of the church. 

H. That as in matters which concerned the 
gathering and ordering of a church, so likewise 
in all public offices which concern civil order, as 
the choice of magistrates and officers, making and 
repealing laws, diving allotments of inheritance, 



o34 SUPPLEMENT. 

and all things of like nature, they would all be 
governed by those rules, which the scripture 
held forth to them. 

III. " That all those who had desired to be re- 
ceived as free planters, had settled in the planta- 
tion, with a purpose, resolution and desire, that 
they might be admitted into church fellowship 
according to Christ." 

IV. "That all the free planters held them- 
selves bound to establish such civil order as 
might best conduce to the securing of the purity 
and peace of the ordinance to themselves and 
their posterity according to God." 

When these resolutions had been passed and 
the people had bound themselves to settle civil 
government according to the divine word, Mr. 
Davenport proceeded to represent unto them 
what men they must choose according to the di- 
vine word, and that they might most effectually 
secure to them and their posterity a just, free and 
peacable government. Time was then given to 
discuss and deliberate upon what he had pro- 
posed. After full discussion and deliberation it 
was determined — 

V. "That church members only should be free 
burgesses ; and that they only should choose ma- 
gistrates among themselves, to have power of 
transacting all the public civil affairs of the plan- 
tation : Of making and repealing laws, dividing 
inheritances, deciding of differences that may 
arise, and doing all things and business of a like 
nature." 

That civil officers might be chosen and govern- 
ment proceed according to these resolutions, it 
was necessary that a church should be formed. 
Without this there could be neither freemen nor 
magistrates. Mr. Davenport therefore proceeded 



SUPPLEMENT. 335 

to make proposals relative to the formation of it, 
in such a manner, that no blemish might be left 
on the " beginnings of church work." It was 
then resolved to this effect, 

VI. " That twelve men should be chosen, that 
their fitness for the foundation work might be 
tried, and that it should be in the power of those 
twelve men, to choose seven to begin the church." 

It was agreed that if seven men could not be 
found among the twelve qualified for the founda- 
tion work, that such other persons should be taken 
into the number, upon trial, as should be judged 
most suitable. The form of a solemn charge, or 
oath, was drawn up and agreed upon at this meet- 
ing to be given to all the freemen. 

Further, it was ordered, that all persons, who 
should be received as free planters of that corpo- 
ration, should submit to the fundamental agree- 
ment above related, and in testimony of their 
submission, should subscribe their names among 
the freemen.* After a proper term of trial, The- 
ophilus Eaton, Esq., Mr. John Davenport, Robert 
Newman, Matthew Gilbert, Thomas Fugill, John 
Punderson, and Jeremiah Dixon, were chosen for 
the seven pillars of the church. 

October 25th, 1639, the court, as it is termed, 
consisting of these seven persons only, convened, 
and after a solemn address to the Supreme Ma- 
jesty, they proceeded to form a body of freemen, 
and to elect their civil officers. The manner was 
indeed singular and curious. 

In the first place, all former trust, for managing 
the public affairs of the plantation, was declared 



* Sixty-three subscribed on the 4th day of June, and there 
were added soon after about fifty other names. 



336 SUPPLEMENT. 

to cease, and be utterly abrogated. Then all 
those who had been admitted to the church after 
the gathering of it, in the choice of the seven 
pillars, and all the members of other approved 
churches, who desired it, and offered themselves, 
were admitted members of the court. A solemn 
charge was then publicly given them, to the same 
effect as the freemen's charge, or oath, which 
they had previously adopted. The purport of 
this was nearly the same with the oath of fidelity, 
and with the freemen's administered at the pre- 
sent time. Mr. Davenport expounded several 
scriptures to them, describing the character of 
civil magistrates given in the sacred oracles. To 
this succeeded the election of officers. Theophi- 
lus Eaton, Esq. was chosen governor, Mr. Robert 
Newman, Mr. Matthew Gilbert, Mr. Nathaniel 
Turner, and Mr. Thomas Fugill, were chosen ma- 
gistrates. Mr. Fugill was also chosen secretary, 
and Robert Seely, marshal. 

Mr. Davenport gave governor Eaton a charge 
in open court, fiom Deut. i. 16, 17. "And I 
charged your judges at that time, saying. Hear 
the causes between your brethren, and judge 
righteously between every man and his brother, 
and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not 
respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear 
the small as well as the great; ye shall not be 
afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is 
God's; and the cause that is too hard for you, 
bring it unto me, and I will hear it." 

It was decreed by the freemen, that there 
should be a general court annually, in the planta- 
tion, on the last week in'October. This was or- 
dained a court of election in which all the officers 
of the colony were to be chosen. This court de- 
termined that the word of God should be the only 



SUPPLEMENT. 337 

rule for ordering the affairs of government in that 
commonwealth. 

This was the original, fundamental constitution 
of the government of New-Haven. All govern- 
ment was originally in the church, and the mem- 
bers of the church elected the governor, magis- 
trates, and all other officers. The magistrates at 
first, were no more than assistants of the governor, 
they might not act in any sentence or determina- 
tion of the court. No deputy governor was cho- 
sen, nor were any laws enacted, except the gene- 
ral resolutions which have been noticed ; but as 
the plantation enlarged, and new towns were set- 
tled, new orders were given ; the general court 
received a new form, laws were enacted, and the 
civil polity of this jurisdiction gradu'^lly advanced, 
in its essential parts, to a near resemblance of the 
government of Connecticut. 

Note O. 
As tobacco, about this time, was coming into 
use, in the colony, a very curious law was made 
for its regulation, or suppression. It was order- 
ed, that no person under twenty years of agf.% nor 
any other, who had not already accustomed him- 
self to the use of it, .should tbke any tobacco un- 
til he had obtained a certificcite from under the 
hand of an approved physician, that it was useful 
for him, and until he had also obtained a ht^ence 
from the court. All others, who had addicted 
themselves to the use of it, were prohibited from 
taki.ig it. in any company, or at their labors, or 
in travelling unless ten miles, at least, from any 
company; and though not in company, not more 
than once a day, upon pain of a fine of a sixpence 
for every such off< nee. One substantial witness 
was to be a sufficient proof of the crime. The 

. 29 



338 SUPPLEMENT. 

constables of the several towns were to make pre- 
sentiment to the particular courts, and it was or* 
dered, that the fine should be paid without gain- 
saying. 

Note P. 

An affair had happened at New-Haven, a few 
fnonths before this, which now began to alarm the 
country, and soon gave great anxiety and trouble 
to that colony. 

Very soon after the restoration, a large number 
of the judges of king Charles the first, commonly 
termed regicides, were apprehended and brought 
upon their trials in the Old Baily. Thirty-nine 
were condemned, and ten executed as traitors. 
Some others, apprehensive of danger, fled out of 
the kingdom before king Charles II. was pro- 
claimed. Colonels Whalley and Goffe made 
their escape to New-England. They were 
brought over by one captain Gooking, and ar- 
rived at Boston in July 1660. Governor Endicott 
and gentlemen of character, in Boston and its vi- 
cinity, treated them with peculiar respect and 
kindness. They were gentlemen of singular 
abilities, and had moved in an exalted sphere. 
Whalley had been a lieutenant general, and Goffe 
a major general, in Cromwell's army. Their 
manners were elegant, and their appearance 
grave and dignified, commanding universal re- 
spect. They soon went from Boston to Cam- 
bridge, where they resided until February. They 
resorted openly to places of public worship on 
the Lord's day, and at other times of public devo- 
tion. They were universally esteemed, by all 
men of character, both civil and religious. But 
no sooner was it known, that the judges had been 
condemned as traitors, and that these gentlemen 



SUPPLEMENT. 38^ 

were excepted from the act of pardon, than the 
principal gentlemen in the Massachusetts began 
to be alarmed. Governor Endicott called a 
court of magistrates to consult measures for ap- 
prehending them. However, their friends were 
so numerous that a vote could not, at that time, 
be obtained to arrest them. Some of the court 
declared that they would stand by them, others 
advised them to remove out of the colony. 

Finding themselves unsafe at Cambridge, they 
came, by the assistance of their friends, to Con- 
necticut. They made their route by Hartford, 
but went directly on to New-Haven. They ar- 
rived about the 27th of March, and made Mr. 
Davenport's house the place of their residence. 
They were treated with the same marks of esteem 
and generous friendship at New-Haven, which 
they had received in the Massachusetts. The 
more the people became acquainted with them, 
the more they esteemed them, not only as men of 
great minds, but of unfeigned piety and religion. 
For some time, they appeared to apprehend them- 
selves as out of danger, and happily situated 
among a number of pious and agreeable friends. 
But it was not long before the news of the king's 
proclamation against the regicides arrived, re- 
quiring, that wherever they might be found, they 
should be immediately apprehended. The gover- 
nor of Massachusetts, in consequence of the royal 
proclamation, issued his warrant to arrest them. 
As they were certified by their friends of all mea- 
sures adopted respecting them, they removed to 
Milford. There they appeared openly in the day 
time, but at night often returned privately to 
New-Haven, and were generally secreted at Mr, 
Davenport's, until about the last of April. 

In the meantime J the governor of Massachusetts 



840 SUPPLEMENT. 

received a royal mandate requiring him to appre- 
hend them ; and a more full and circumstuiitial 
account of the condemnation and the execution 
of the ten regicides, and of the disposition of the 
court tovvards them, and the republicans and pu- 
ritans in general, arrived in New-England. This 
gave a mure general and thorough alarm to the 
whole country. A feigned search had been made 
in the Massachusetts, in consequence of the for- 
mer warrant, for the colonels Whalley and Goffe ; 
but now the governor and magistrates began to 
view the affair in a more serious point of light; 
and appear to have been in earnest to secure 
them. Tliey perceived, that their own personal 
safety, and tiie liberties and peace of the country 
were concerned in the manner of their conduct 
towards those unhappy men. They therefore 
immediately gave a commission to Thomas Kel- 
lond and Thomas Kirk, two zealous young royal- 
ists, to go through the colonies, as far as the Man- 
hadoes, and make a careful and universal search 
for them. They pursued the judges, with enga- 
gedness, to Hartford ; and, repairing to governor 
Winthrop, were nobly entertained. He assured 
them, that the colonels made no stay in Connecti- 
cut, but went directly to New-Haven. He gave 
them a warrant and instructions similar to those 
which they had received from the governor of 
Massachusetts, and transacted every thing relative 
to the affair with despatch. The next day they 
arrived at Guilford, and opened their business to 
deputy governor Leet. They acquainted him 
that, according to the intelligence which they 
had received, the regicides were then at New- 
Haven. They desired immediately to be furnish- 
ed with powers, horses, and assistance to arrest 
them. 



SUPPLEMENT. 341 

But here they were very unwelcome messen- 
gers. Governor Leet, and the principal gentle- 
men in Guilford and New-Haven, had no ill opin- 
ion of the judges. If they had done wrong in the 
part they had acted, they viewed it as an error in 
judgment, and as the fault of great and good 
men, under peculiar and extraordinary circum- 
stances. They were touched with compassion 
and sympathy, and had real scruples of con- 
science with respect to delivering up such men 
to death. Tliey viewed them as the excellent in 
the earth, and were afraid to betray them, lest 
they should be instrumental in shedding innocent 
blood. They saw no advantage in putting them 
to death. They were not zealous therefore to 
assist in apprehending them. Governor Leet 
said, he had not seen them, in nine weeks, and 
that he did not believe they were at New-Haven. 
He read some of the papers relative to the affair 
with an audible voice. The pursuivants observed 
to him, that their business required more secrecy 
than was consistent with such a reading of their 
instructions. He delayed furnishing them with 
horses until the next morning, and utterly declin- 
ed giving them any powers, until he had con- 
sulted with his council, at New-Haven. They 
complained, that an Indian went off", from Guil- 
ford to New-Haven, in the night, and that the 
governor was so dilatory, the next morning, that 
a messenger went on to New-Haven, before they 
could obtain horses for their assistance. The 
judges were apprised of every transaction re- 
specting them, and they, and their friends, t ok 
their measures accordingly. They changed their 
quarters, from one place to another in the town^ 
as circumstances required ; and had faithfui 

29* 



342 SUPPLEMENT. 

friends to give them information, and to conceal 
them from their enemies. 

On t[ie 13th of March, the pursuivants came to 
New-Haven, and governor Leet arrived in town,, 
soon after them, to consult his council. They 
acquaintedliim, that, from tlie information which 
they had received, they were persuaded, ti»at the 
judges were yet in the town, and pressed him and 
the magistrates to give them a warrant and assist- 
ance, to arrest them, without any further delay. 
But after the governor and his council had been 
together five or six hours, they dispersed, without 
doing any thing relative to the affair. The go- 
vernor declared that they could not act without 
calling a general assembly of the freemen. Kel- 
lond and Kirk observed to him, that the other 
governors had not stood upon such niceties ; that 
the honor arwJ justice of his majesty were con- 
cerned, and that he would highly resent the con- 
cealment and abetting of such traitors and regi- 
cides. They demanded whether he and his coun- 
cil, would own and honor his majesty .? The 
governor replied, we do honor his majesty, but 
have tender consciences, and wish first to know 
whether he will own us.* 

The tradition is, that the pursuivants searched 
Mr. Davenport's hou&e, and used him very ill. 
They also searched other houses, where they sus- 
pected that the regicides were concealed The 
report is, that they went into the house of one 
Mrs. Eyers, where they actually were ; but she 
conducted the affair with suoh composure and 
address, that they imagined that the judges had. 

* Report of Kellond and Kirk to governor Endicott ; to 
which they gave oath, in the preseoce of the governor and 
kl« council. 



SIJ«»PLEMENT. 343- 

just made their escape from the house, and they 
went off without making any search. It is said, 
that once, when the pursuers passed the neck 
bridge, the judges concealed themselves under 
it. Several times they narrowly escaped, but 
never could be tak(Mi. 

These zealous royalists, not finding the judges 
in New-Haven, prosecuted their journey to the 
Dutch settlements, and made interest with Stuy- 
vesant, the Dut^h governor, against them. He 
promised them, that, if the judges should be found 
withm his jurisdiction, he would give tiiem imme- 
diate intelhgence, and that he would prohibit ail 
ships and vessels from transporting them. Hav- 
ing thus zealously prosecuted the business of 
their commission, they returned to Boston, and 
reported the reception which they had met with 
^t Guilford and New-Haven. 

Upoa this report, a letter was written by secre- 
tary Rawson, in the name of the general court of 
Massachusetts, to governor Leet and his councilj 
on the subject. It represented, that many com- 
plaints fiad been exhibited in Eugland against 
the colonies, and that they were in great danger. 
Xi was observed, that one great source of com- 
plaint, was their giving such entertainment to 
the regicides, and their inattention to his majes- 
ty's warrant for arresting them. This was repre- 
sented as an affair which hazarded tlie liberties 
of all the colonies, and especially those of New- 
Haven. It was intimated, that the safety of par- 
ticular persons, no less than that of the colony,, 
was in danger. It was insisted, that the only 
way to expiate their offence, and save themselves 
harmless, was, without delay, to apprehend the 
delinquents. Indeed, the court urged, that not 
anly their own safety and welfare, but the essei^ 



844 SUPPLEMENT. 

tial interests of their neighbors, demanded their 
indefatigable exertions to exculpate themselves. 

Colonels Whalley and Goffe, after the search 
which had been made for them, at New-Haven, 
left Mr. Davenport's and took up their quarters at 
Mr. William Jones', son-in-law to Governor Ea- 
ton, and afterwards deputy governor of New Ha- 
ven and Connecticut. There they secreted them- 
selves until the 11th of May. Thence they re- 
moved to a mill in the environs of the town. For 
a short time, they made their quarters in the 
woods, and then fixed them in a cave in the side 
of a hill, which they named Providence Hill. 
They had some other places of resort, to which 
they retired as occasion made necessary, but this 
was, generally, the place of their residence until 
»the 1 9th of August. When the weather was bad 
they lodged, at night, in a neighboring house. It 
is not improbable, that sometimes, when it could 
be done with safety, they made visits to their friends 
at New-Haven. 

Indeed, to prevent any damage to Mr. Daven- 
port or the colony, they once, or more, came into 
the town openly, and offered to deliver up them- 
selves to save their friends. It seems it was iully 
expected, at that time, that they would have done 
it voluntarily. But their friends, neither desired, 
nor advised them, by any means, to adopt so dan- 
gerous a measure. They hoped to save them- 
selves and the colony harmless, without such a 
sacrifice. The magistrates were greatly blamed 
for not apprehending them, at i\us time in parti- 
cular. Secretary Rawson, in a letter of his to 
Governor Leet, writes, " How ill t'»is will be taken 
is not difficult to imagine; to be sure not well. 
Nay, will not all men condem.-j you as wanting 
to yourselves ?" The general court of Massacbu - 



SUPPLEMENT. 345 

setts, further acquainted Governor Leet, that the 
colonies were criminated for making no applica- 
tion to the king, since his restoration, and for not 
proclaiming him as their king. The court, in their 
letter, observed, that it was highly necessary, that 
they should send an agent to answer for them at 
the court of England. 

Note Q. 
About this time, it seems. Governor Winthrop 
took his passage for England. Upon his arrival, 
he made application to Lord Say and Seal, and 
other friends of the colony, for their countenance 
and assistance. Lord Say and Seal, appears to 
have been the only nobleman living, who was 
one of the original patentees of Connecticut. 
He held the patent in trust originally, for the pu- 
ritanic exiles. He received the address from the 
colony most favorably, and gave Governor Win- 
throp all the assistance in his power. The go- 
vernor was a man of address, and he arrived in 
England, at a happy time for Connecticut. Lord 
Say and Seal, the great friend of the colony, had 
been particularly instrumental in the restoration. 
This had so brought him into the king's favor, that 
he had been made lord privy seal. The Earl of 
Manchester, another friend of the puritans, and of 
the rights of the Colonies, was chamberlain of his 
majesty's household. He was an intimate friend 
of Lord Say and Seal, and had been united with 
him in defending the colonies, and pleading for 
their establishment and liberties. Lord Say and 
Seal, engaged him to give Mr. Winthrop his ut- 
most assistance. Mr. Winthrop had an extraor- 
dinary ring, which had been given his grandfather 
by King Charles the first, which he presented to 
the king. This, it is said, exceedingiy pleased 



34b SUPPLEMENT. 

his majesty, as it had been once the property of a 
father m\)st dear to him. Undev these circum- 
stances, the petition of Connecticut was present- 
ed, and was received with uncommon grace and 
favor. 

Upon the 20th of April, 1662, his majesty grant- 
ed the colony his letters patent, conveying the 
most ample privileges, under the great seal of 
England. It confirmed unto it the whole tract of 
country, granted by King Charles the first, unto 
the Earl of Warwick, and which was, the next 
year, by him consigned unto Lord Say and Seal, 
Lord Brook and others. The patent granted the 
lands in free and common socage. The faots, stated 
and pleaded in the petition, were recognized in the 
charter, nearly in the same form of words, as rea- 
sons of the royal grant, and of the ample privi- 
leges which it conveyed. 

It ordained, that John Winthrop, John Mason, 
Samuel Wyllys, Henry Clarke, Matthew Allen, 
John Tapping, Nathan Gould, Richard Treat, 
Richard Lord, Henry Wolcott, John Talcott, 
Daniel Clarke, John Ogden, Thomas Welles, 
Obadiah Bruen, John Clarke, Anthony Hawkins, 
John Deming, and Matthew Cam field, and all 
such others as then were, or should afterwards be 
admitted and made free of the corporation, shoul^ 
forever after be one body corporate and politic, 
in fact and name, by the name of the Goveror 
AND Company of the English Colony of Con- 
necticut, IN New-England in America; and that 
by the same name, they and their successors should 
have perpetual su -cession. They were capaci- 
tated, as persons in law, to plead and be implead- 
ed, to defend and be defended, in all suits what- 
sovever. To purciiase, T>ossess, lease, grant, de- 
mise, and sell lands, t^enements, and goods, in ^s 



SUPPLEMENT* 34t 

ample a manner, as any of his majesty's subjects 
or corporations in England. The charter ordain- 
ed, that there should be, annually, two general 
assemblies ; one holden on the second Thursday 
in May^ and the other on the second Thursday in 
October. This was to consist of the governor, 
deputy governor, and twelve assistants, with two 
deputies from every town or city. John Winthrop 
was appointed governor, and John Mason deputy 
governor, and the gentlemen named above magis-* 
trates, until a new election should be made. 

Note R. 

Before the session of the General Assembly of 
Connecticut, in October, the charter was brought 
over ; and as the governors and magistrates, ap- 
pointed by his majesty, were not authorized to 
serve after this time, a general election was ap- 
pointed, on the 9th of October. John Winthrop, 
Esq. was chosen governor, and John Mason, Esq. 
deputy governor. The magistrates were Matthew 
Allen, Samuel Wyllys, Nathan Gould, Richard 
Treat, John Ogden, John Tapping, John Talcott, 
Henry Wolcott, Daniel Clarke and John Allen, 
Esquires, Mr. Baker and Mr. Sherman. John 
Talcott, Esq. was treasurer, and Daniel Clark, Esq. 
secretary. 

Upon the day of the election, the charter was 
publicly read to the freemen, and declared to be- 
long to them and their successors. They then pro- 
ceeded to make choice of Mr. Wyllys, Mr. Tal- 
cott, and Mr. Allen to receive the charter into 
their custody, and keep it in behalf of the colony. 
It was ordered, that an oath should be adminis- 
tered, by the court, to the freeman, binding them 
to ;a faithful discharge of the trust committed te 
them. 



348 SUPPLEMENT. 

The general assembly established all former 
officers, civil and military, in their respective pla- 
ces of trust ; and enacted, that all the laws of the 
colony should be continued in full force, except 
such as should be found contrary to the tenor of 
the charter. It was also enacted, that the same 
colony seal should be continued. 

The major part of the inhabitants of Southhold, 
several of the people at Guilford, and of the 
towns of Stamford and Greenwich, tendering 
their persons and estates to Connecticut, and 
petitioning to enjoy the protection and privi- 
leges of this conimonweahh, were accepted by 
the a*ssembly, and promised the same protection 
and freedom, which was common to the inhabit- 
ants of the colony in general. At the same time, 
it was enjoined upon them, to conduct themselves 
peaceably, as became christians, towards their 
neighbors, who did not submit to the jurisdiction 
of Connecticut ; and that they should pay all taxes 
due to the ministers, with all other public char- 
ges then due. A message w^as sent to tlic Dutch 
governor, certifying him of the charter, granted to 
Connecticut, and desiring him, by no means, to 
trouble any one of his majesty's subjects, within 
its limits, with impositions, or prosecutions from 
that jurisdiction. 

The assembly gave notice to the inhabitants of 
Winchester, that they were comprehended within 
the limits of Connecticut ; and ordered, that, as 
his majesty haJ thus disposed of them, they should 
conduct themselves as peaceable subjects. 

The assembly resolved, that th(^ inhabitants of 
Mystic and Pawcatuck should no more exercise 
any authority, by virtue of commissions from any 
oth?r colony but should elect their town officers, 
and manage all their affairs, according to the laws 



StTPPLEMENT. 349 

<of Connecticut. It was also resolved, that this, 
mid some other towns, should pay twenty pounds 
each, towards defraying the expense of procuring 
the charter. 

Huntington, Setauket, Oyster Bay, and all the 
towns upon Long Island, were obliged to submit 
to the authority, and govern themselves agreeably 
to the laws of Connecticut. A court was insti- 
tuted at Southhold, consisting of Capt. James 
Youngs, and the justices of South and East Hamp- 
ton. The assembly resolved that all the towns 
which should be received under their jurisdiction, 
should bear their equal proportion of the charge 
of the colony, in procuring the patent. 

As the charter included the colony of New-Ha- 
ven, Mr. Matthew Allen, Mr Samuel Wyllys, and 
the Rev. Messrs. Stone and Hooker, were appoint- 
ed a committee, to proceed to New-Haven, and 
treat with their friends there, respecting an ami- 
cable union of the two colonies. 

The committee proceeded to New-Haven, and 
after a conference with the governor, magistrates 
and principal gentlemen in the colony, left the fol- 
lowing declaration to be communicated to the 
freemen. 

" We declare, that through the providence of 
the Most High, a large and ample patent, and 
therein desirable privileges and immunities, from 
his majusty, being come to our hand, a copy 
whereof we have left with you to be considered, 
and yourselves, upon the sea-coast, being inclu- 
ded and interested therein, the king having uni- 
ted us in one body politic, we, according to the 
commission wherewith we are intrusted, by the 
General Assembly of Connecticut, do declare, in 
their name, that it is both their and our earnes* 
desire, that there may be a happy and comfortable 

30 



^50 SUPPLEMENT. 

tinioTi between yourselves and us, according to 
the tenor of the charter; that inconveniences 
and dangers may be prevented, peace and truth 
strengthened and established, through our suita- 
ble subjection to the terms of the patent, and 
the blessing of God upon us therein." 

The authority of New-Haven made the follow* 
ing reply. 

*' We have received and perused your writings, 
and heard the copy read of his majesty's letters 
patent to Connecticut colony ; wherein, though 
we do not find the colony of New-Haven express- 
ly included, yet to show our desire that matters 
may be issued in the conserving of peace and 
a.mity, with righteousness between them and us, 
we shall communicate your writings, and a copy 
of the patent, to our freemen, and afterwards, 
with convenient speed, return their answer. Only 
we desire, that the issuing of matters may be re- 
spited until we may receive fuller information 
from Mr. Winthrop, or satisfaction otherwise ; 
and that in the meantime, this colony may remain 
distinct, entire, and uninterrupted as heretofore: 
which we hope you will see cause' lovingly to 
consent unto; and signify the same to us, with 
convenient speed." 

On the 4th of November, the freemen of the co- 
lony of New-Haven, convened in general court. 
The governor communicated the writings to the 
court, and ordered a copy of the patent to be 
read. After a short adjournment, for considera- 
tion in an affair of so much importance, the free- 
men met again, and proceeded to a large discus- 
sion of the subject. 

The Rev. Mr. Davenport was entirely opposed 
to an union with Connecticut. He proceeded, 
therefore, to offer a number of reasons, why the 



SUPPLEMENT. 351 

inhabitants of New-Haven could not be included 
in the patent of that colony, and for which they 
ought by no means, voluntarily to form an union. 
He left his reasons in writing, for the considera- 
tion of the freemen. He observed that he should 
leave others to act according to the light which 
they should receive. 

It was insisted, that New-Haven had been own- 
ed as a distinct government, not only by her sis- 
ter colonies, by the parliament, and the protectorj 
during their administration ; but by his majesty, 
king Charles the second : That it was against the 
express articles of confederation, by which Con- 
necticut was no less bound, than the other colo- 
nies : That New-Haven had never been certified 
of any such design, as their incorporation with 
Connecticut ; and that they had never been heard 
on the subject. It was further urged, that,^ had 
it been designed to unite them with Connecticut, 
some of their names, at least, would have been 
put into the patent, with the other patentees; 
but none of them were there. Hence it was 
maintained, that it never could have been the. 
design of his majesty, to comprehend them with- 
in the limits of the charter. It was argued, that 
for them to consent to an union would be incon- 
sistent with their oath, to maintain that common^ 
wealth, with all its privileges, civil and religious. 
Indeed, it was urged, that it would be incom- 
patible both with their honor and most essential 
interests. 

Governor Leet excused himself from speaking^ 
on the subject, desiring rather to hear the freemea 
speak their minds freely, and to act themselves, 
with respect to the union. 

After the aftair had been fully debated, the free- 



352 SUPPLEMENT. 

men resolved, that an answer to Connecticut 
should be drawn up under the following heads. 

1. "Bearing a proper testimony against the 
great sin of Connecticut, in acting so contrary to 
righteousness, amity, and peace." 

2. " Desiring that all further proceedings, re- 
lative to the affair, might be suspended, until 
Mr. Winthrop should return, or they might 
otherwise obtain further information and satis- 
faction." 

3. "To represent, that they could do nothing 
in the affair, until they had consulted the other 
confederates." 

The freemen appointed all their magistrates 
and elders, with Mr. Law, of Stamford, a com- 
mittee to draw up an answer to the General As- 
sembly of Connecticut. They were directed to 
subjoin the weighty arguments, which they had 
against an union. If these should not avail, they 
were directed to prepare an address to his majes- 
ty, praying for relief. 

The committee drew up a long letter, in which 
they declared that they did not find any com- 
mand in the patent, to dissolve covenants, and 
alter the orderly settlement of New-England; 
nor a prohibition against their continuance as a 
distinct government. They represented, that the 
conduct of Connecticut, in acting at first without 
them, confirmed them in those sentiments ; and 
that the way was still open for them to petition 
his majesty, and obtain immunities similar to 
those of Connecticut. They declared, that they 
must enter their appeal from the construction 
which Connecticut put upon the patent; and de- 
sired that they might not be interrupted, in the 
enjoyment of their distinct privileges. They so- 
licited, that proceedings relative to an union 



S0PPLEMBNT, o5J 

might rest until they might obtain further infor- 
mation, consult their confederates, and know his 
majesty's pleasure concerning them. 

The committee then proceeded to represent 
the unreasonable and injurious conduct of Con- 
necticut towards them, in beginning to exercise 
jurisdiction, within their limits, before they had 
given them any intimations, tfiat they were in- 
cluded in their charter; before (hey had invited 
them to an amicable union ; and before they had 
any representation in their assembly, or name in 
their patent. They urged, that, in such a pro- 
cedure, they had encouraged division, and given 
countenance to disaffected persons: That they 
had abetted them in slighting solemn covenants 
and oaths, by which the peace of the towns and 
churches, in that colony, was greatly disturbed. 
Further, they insisted, that, by this means, his 
majesty's pious designs were counteracted, and 
his interests disserved : That great scandal was 
brought upon religion before the natives, and the 
beauty of a peaceable, faithful and brotherly 
walking exceedingly marred among themselves. 
The committee also represented, that these trans- 
actions were entirely inconsistent with the en- 
gagement of governor Winthrop, contrary to his 
advice to Connecticut, and tended to bring inju- 
rious reflections and reproach upon him. They 
earnestly prayed for a copy of all which he had 
written to the deputy governor and company on 
the subject. On the whole, they professed them- 
selves exceedingly injured and grieved ; and en- 
treated the general assembly of Connecticut to 
adopt speedy and effectual measures to repair the 
breaches which they had made, and to restore 
them to their former state, as a confederate and 
sister colony. 

t]0* 



354 SUPPLEMENT. 

Connecticut made no reply to this letter ; but 
at a general assembly, holden March lith, 1663, 
appointed the deputy governor, Messrs, Matthew 
and John Allen, and Mr. John Talcott, a com- 
mittee to treat with their friends at New-Haven, 
on the subject of an union. But the hasty mea- 
sures which the general assembly had taken, in 
admitting the disaffected members of the several 
towns, under the jurisdiction of New-Haven, to 
their protection, and to the privileges of freemen 
of their corporation, and in that way beginning ta 
dismember that colony, before they had invited 
them to incorporate with them, had so sonred 
their minds and prejudiced them, that this com- 
mittee had no better success than the former. 

In consequence of the claims of Connecticut, 
and of what had passed between the two colo- 
nies, governor Leet called a special assembly at 
New-Haven, on the 6th of May. It was then 
proposed to the court, whether, considering the 
present state of the colony, and the afi'airs de- 
pending between them and Connecticut, any al- 
teration should be made, with respect to the 
time or manner of their election? The freemen 
resolved, that no alteration should be made. 
They then determined upon a remonstrance or 
declaration, to be sent to the general assembly of 
Connecticut. In this way they gave a historical 
account of the ends of their coming, with their 
brethren in the united colonies, into New-Eng- 
land, and of the solemn manner in which these 
colonies had confederated ; and insinuated, that 
the conduct of Connecticut towards them, was. 
directly contrary to the designs of the first plant- 
ers in New-England, and to that express article 
of the confederation, that no one colony should 
•be anuexed to anotheyy without the consent of the 



SUPPLEMENT. 355 

other colonies. They declared, that if, through 
the coiitrivance of Connecticut, without their 
knowledge or consent, the patent did circum- 
scribe that colony, it was, in their opinion, con- 
trary to brotherly love, righteousness, and peace. 
They also declared, that, notwithstanding the 
sense which Connecticut put upon their patent, 
they could not find one line or letter in it, ex- 
pressing his majesty's pleasure, that they should 
become one with that colony. The court affirm- 
ed, that they were necessitated to bear testimony 
against the appointment of constables and other 
officers, in the towns under their jurisdiction, and 
the dismembering of their colony by receiving 
their disaffected people under the protection of a 
legislature distinct from theirs, and in which they 
had no representation. They remonstrated against 
this, as distracting the colony, destroying the 
comforts, and hazarding the lives and liberties of 
their confederates ; as giving great offence to 
their consciences, and as matter of high provoca- 
tion and complaint before God and man. All 
this unbrotherly and unrighteous management, 
they represented as exceedingly aggravated, in 
that, notwithstanding tlieir former representations 
and mtreaties, in writing, notwithstanding their 
appeal to his majesty, and notwithstanding all 
their past distress and sufferings, they were still 
pursuing the same course. They still declared, 
that they appealed to his majesty : and that, ex- 
ceedingly grieved and afflicted, they, in the sight 
of God, angels, and men, testified against such 
proceedings. 

While these affairs were transacted in the colo- 
nies, the petition and address of New Haven, to 
his majesty, arrived in England. Upon which 
governor Winthrop, who was yet there, by the^ 



356 siCPPLEMENT. 

advice of the friends of both colonies, agreed that 
no injury should be done to New-Haven, and that 
the union and incorporation of the two colonies 
should be voluntary. Therefore, on the 3d of 
March, 1663, he wrote to the deputy governor 
and company of Connecticut, certifying them of 
his engagements to the agent of New-Haven; 
and that, before he took out the charter, he had 
given assurance to their friends, that their inte- 
rests and privileges should not be injured by the 
patent. He represented, that they were bound 
by the assurances he had given : and, therefore, 
wished them to abstain from all further injury 
and trouble of that colony. He imputed what 
they had done to their ignorance of the engage- 
ments which he had made. At the same time, 
he intimated his assurance, that, on his return, he 
should be able to affect an amicable union of the 
colonies. 

At the election in Connecticut, Mr. Howell and 
Mr. Jasper Crane, were chosen magistrates, in- 
stead of Mr. John Allen and Mr. John Ogden. 
Mr. John Allen was appointed treasurer. 

Connecticut now laid claim to West Chester, 
and sent one of their magistrates to lead the in- 
habitants to the choice of their officers, and to 
administer the proper oaths to such as they should 
elect. The colony also extended their claim to 
the Narraganset country, and appointed officers 
for the government of the inhabitants at Wick- 
ford. 

Notwithstanding the remonstrance of the court 
at New-Haven, their appeal to king Charles the 
second, and the engagements of governor Win • 
throp, Connecticut pursued the affair of an union 
in the same manner in which it was begun. At a 
session of the general assembly, August iOth, 



SUPPLEMENT. - 357 

'1663, the deputy governor, Mr. Wyllys, Mr. 
Daniel Clarke, and Mr. John Allen, were appoint- 
ed a committee to treat with their friends at New- 
Haven, Milford, Guilford, and Branford, relative 
to their incorporation with Connecticut. Pro- 
vided they could not affect an union, by treaty, 
they were authorised to read the charter publicly 
at New-Haven, and to make declaration to the 
people there, that the assembly could not but re- 
sent their proceeding, as a distinct jurisdiction, 
since they were evidently included within the 
limits of the charter, granted to the corporation 
of Connecticut. They were instructed to pro- 
claim that the assembly did desire, and could 
not but expect, that the inhabitants of New-Ha- 
ven, Milford, Guilford, Branford, and Stamford, 
would yield subjection to the government of Con- 
necticut 

At the meeting of the commissioners, in Sep- 
tember, New-Haven was owned by the colonies, 
as a distinct confederate. Governor Leet and 
Mr. Fenn, who had been sent from that jurisdic- 
tion, exhibited a complaint against Connecticut, 
of the injuries which they had done, by encroach- 
ing upon their rights, receiving their members 
under their government, and encouraging them to 
disown their authority, to disregard their oath of 
allegiance, and to refuse all attendance on their 
courts. They further complained, that Connecti- 
cut had appointed constables in several of their 
towns, to the great disquiet and injury of the 
colony. They prayed, that eflectual measures 
might be taken to redress their grievances to pre- 
vent further injuries, and secure their rights as a 
distinct confederate. 

Governor Winthrop and Mr. John Talcott, 
commissioners from Connecticut replied, that, in 
iheir opinion, New-Haven had no just grounds of 



358 SUPPLEMENT. 

complaint ; that Connecticut had never desig^ned 
them any injury, but had made to them th^; most 
friendly propositions, inviting them to share with 
them freely in all the important and distinguish- 
ino; privileges, which they had obtained for them- 
selves ; that they had sent committees amicably 
to treat with them ; that they were still treatmg, 
and would attend all just and friendly means of 
accommodation. 

The commissioners of the other colonies, hav- 
ing fully heard the parties, determined, that as 
the colony of New-Haven had been " owned, in 
the articles of confederation, as distinct from 
Connecticut, and having been so owned, by the 
colonies jointly in the present meeting, in all 
their actings, they may not, by any acts of vio- 
lence, have their liberty of jurisdiction infringed, 
by any other of the united colonies, without 
breach of the articles of confederal ion ; and tiiat 
where any act of power hath been exerted against 
their authority, that the same oii/^ht to be re(!all- 
ed, and their power reserved to them entire, until 
such time, as, in an orderly way, it shall be oth- 
erwise disposed." With respect to the particu- 
lar grievances, mentioned by the commissioners 
of rTew-Haven, the consideration of them was re- 
ferred to the next meeting of tiio commissioners 
at Hartford. 

Note S. 

In this situation of affairs, an event took place, 
which alarmed all the New-England colonies, and 
at once changed the opinion of the commission- 
ers, and of New-Haven, with respect to their in- 
corporation with Connecticut. 

King Charles the second, on the I2th of March 
1664, gave a patent to his brother, the Duke of 
York, and Albany, of several extensive tracts of 



SUPPLElrfENT. 359 

land, in North America, the boundaries of which 
are thu?? described. 

« All that part of the main land of New-Eng- 
land, begmning at a certain place, calird and 
known by the name of St. Croix next adjoining to 
New-England in America, and from thence ex- 

1. T?. ^^"^"^ ^^^ ®^^ ^^^^* ""^o ^ certain place 
cailed Pemaquie or Pemaquid, and so up the river 
thereof to the furthest head of the same, as it 
tendeth northward; and from thence extending 
to the nver Kembequin, and so upwards by the 
shortest course to the river Canada northward t 
and also all that island or islands commonaly 
called by the general name or names of Meitowax, 
or Long-Island, situate and being toward the 
west of Cape Cod, and the narrow Highgansets, 
abuttmg upon the main land between the two 
rivers there called or known by the several names 
ot Connecticut and Hudson's river, and all the 
land from the west side of Connecticut river to 
the east side of Delaware bay, and also all those 
several islands called or known by the nameg 
of Martin's- Vineyard or Nantucks, otherwise Nan- 
tucket: together," &,c. 

The concern of the Duke of York for his pro- 
perty, the aversion both of his majesty and the 
duke to the Dutch, with the differences between 
them and the New-England colonies, made an ex- 
pedition against the New-Netherlands a prime 
object of their attention. Though his majesty 
King Charles II. was an indolent prince, devoted 
to dissipation and pleasure, yet, under the in- 
fluence of these motives, an armament wa'; j^oon 
prepared, and a fleet dispatched to New-Enohuid, 
for the reduction of the Dutch settlements on the 
continent. Colonel Richard Nichols was chief 
commander of the fleet and army. Colonel Ni- 



^60 SUPPLEMENT. 

chols had not only a commission, for the reduction 
of the Dutch plantations, and the government of 
them, but he, with George Cartvvrith, Esq. Sir 
Robert Carr, and Samuel Maverick Esq. were ap- 
pointed commissioners, by his majesty, and vested 
with extraordinary powers, for visiting the New- 
England colonies ; hearing and determining all 
matters of complaint and controversy between 
them, and settling the country in peace. 

Colonel Nichols arrived at Boston, with the 
fleet and troops under his command, on the 23d 
of July 1664. He immediately comn)unicated his 
commission to the colonies, and his Majesty's re- 
quisitions to assist in the expedition against the 
Dutch. He then sailed for the New-Netherlands, 
and on the 20th of August, made a demand of 
the town and forts upon the island of Manhadoes, 
He had previously sent letters to Governor Win- 
throp, to join him, at the west end of Long-Island. 
Governor Winthrop with several of the magis- 
trates and principal gentlemen of Connecticut, 
joined him, according to his wishes. 

Stuyvesant, the Dutch governor, was an old 
soldier, and had he been better prepared, and the 
people united, doubtles would have made a brave 
defence. But he had no intimations of the de- 
sign, until the 8th of July, when he received in- 
telligence, that a fleet of three or four ships of 
war, with three hundred and fifty soldiers on board, 
were about to sail from England, against the 
Dutch settlements. Upon this, he immediately 
ordered, that the forts should be put into a state 
of defence, and sent out spies into several parts 
of Connecticut, with a view of obtaining further 
information. Indeed the tradition has been that 
the Dutch governor apprehending the danger, in 
which all the Dutch plantations would immediate- 



StJPPLEMEN'l'. 361 

ly be, on the arrival of the fleet, should the colo- 
nies unite against them, came to Hartford to ne- 
gotiate a neutrality with Connecticut ; and that 
he was there when he received the news of the 
arrival of the fleet at Boston. The story has been 
that he made his departure in the night, and re- 
turned with the utmost expedition. 

He was extremely opposed to a surrender of the 
fort and town. Instead of submitting to the sum- 
mons at first sent him, he drew^ up a long state- 
ment of the Dutch claims, and their indubitable 
right to the country. He insisted that, had the 
king of England known the justice of their claims, 
he never would have adopted such measures 
against them. He concluded, by assuring Col. 
Nichols, that he should not submit to his de- 
mands, nor fear any fvUs, but such as God in his 
providence, shf;uld inflict upon hirn. 

Colonel Nichols, in his first summons, had, in 
his majesty's name, given assurance, that the 
Dutch, upon their submission, should be safe, as 
to life, liberty, and ])roperty. Governor Win- 
throp also wrote a letter to the governor and 
council, advising them to surrender. But they 
were careful to secrete the writings from the peo- 
ple, lest the easy terms proposed should induce 
them to surrender. The burgo masters and peo- 
ple desired to know of the governor, what was the 
import of the writings he had received, and es- 
pecially of the letter from governor Wmthrop. 
The Dutch governor and his council giving them 
no intelligence, they solicited it the more earnest- 
ly. The governor, irritated at this, in a paroxysm 
of anger, tore the letter in pieces. Upon winch 
the people protested against his conduct, and all 
its consequences. 

Wiiile the governor and his council were thus 

31 



3l52 SUPPLEMENT. 

contending with the burgo-masters and people, 
in the town, the English commissioners caused a 
proclamation to be published, in the country, en- 
couraging the inhabitants to submit to his majes- 
ty's government. This promised to all the inha- 
bitants, who would become subject to his majesty, 
<' That they should be protected by his majesty's 
laws and justice, and enjoy whatever God's bless- 
ing, and their honest industry, had furnished them 
with, and all the other privileges with his majes- 
ty's English subjects." 

The colonel, finding that the Dutch Governor 
was determined, if possible, to keep his station, 
sent officers to Jamaica, Hempsted, and other 
towns, upon the island, to beat up for volunteers. 
Captain Hugh Hide, who commanded the ships, 
had orders to proceed to the reduction of the fort. 
Troops were raised in New-England, and ready 
to march upon the first notice. Two thirds of 
the inhabitants upon Long-Island were English 
subjects, and wished for the success of his majes- 
ty's arms. They were ready, if necessary, to af- 
ford their immediate assistance. In such circum- 
stances, opposition would have been madness. 
The Dutch therefore, on the 27th of August, sub- 
mitted on terms of capitulation. The articles se- 
cured them in the enjoyment of liberty of con- 
science in divine worship, and their own mode of 
discipline. The Dutch governor and people be- 
came English subjects, enjoyed their estates, and 
all the privileges of Englishmen. Upon the sur- 
render of the town of New-Amsterdam, it was 
named New-York, in honor of the duke of York. 

Part of the armament immediately sailed up the 
iiver, under the command of Carteret, to fort 
Orange, or Aurania. This surrendered on the 
i4th September. This was named Albany, in 



SUPPLEMENT. 36S 

honor of the duke of York and Albany. Sir Ro- 
bert Carr proceeded with another division of the 
fleet to Delaware. He obliged the Dutch and 
Swedes to capitulate, and deliver up their re- 
spective garrisons, on the 1st of October. Upon 
this day, the whole of New-Netherlands became 
^subject to the crown of England. The Dutch, 
who before had given so much trouble to the 
English colonists, from this time commenced their 
loyal and peaceable fellow subjects. 

The short time the commissioners tarried ai 
Boston, before they proceeded upon their expe- 
dition against the Dutch, was sufficient to dis- 
cover something of their extraordinary powers, 
and such a taste of the high and arbitrary man- 
ner in which they had conducted, as spread a 
general alarm, and awakened, in the colonies^ 
serious apprehensions for their liberties. Mr. 
Wiiiting, who was at Boston, and learned much 
of their temper, was sent back, in haste, to give 
information of the dasjger, in whicii, it was ap- 
prehended, the colonies were ; to advise New- 
Haven to incorporate with Connecticut, without 
delay; and to make a joint exertion for the pre- 
servation of their chartered rights. This was 
pressed, not only as absolutely necessary for 
New-Haven, but for the general safety of the 
country. 

In consequence of this intelligence a general 
court was convened at New-Haven, on the 11th 
of August, 1664. Governor Leet communicated 
the intelligence which he had received from their 
friends at Boston. He acquainted them that Mr. 
Whiting and Mr. Bull had made a visit to New- 
Haven, and in their own names, and in behalf of 
the magistrates of Connecticut, pressed their im- 
mediate subjection to their government. Fur- 



364 SUPPLEMENT. 

ther, the court was certified, that after some trea- 
ty with those gentlemen, their committee hacT 
given an answer, purporting, that, if Connecticut 
would, in his majesty's name, assert their claim to 
the colony of New-Haven, and secure them in the 
full enjoyment of all the immunities, which they 
had proposed, and engage to make a united ex- 
ertion for the preservation of their chartered 
rights, they would make their submission. After 
a long d(ibate the court resolved, that, if Con- 
necticut should come and assert their claim, as 
had been agreed, they would submit until the 
meeting of the commissioners of the united colo- 
nies. The magistrates and principal gentlemen 
of the colony, seem to have been sensible, not 
only of the expediency, but of the necessity of an 
incorporation with Connecticut. The opposition, 
however, was so general among the people, that 
nothing further could be effected. 

The court of commissioners was so hear at 
hand, that governor Winthrop and his council 
judged it not expedient to make any further de- 
mands upon New-Haven, until their 4idvice could 
be known. However, when the general assem- 
bly met, early in September, they passed a re- 
monstrance against the sitting of governor Leet 
and deputy governor Jones with the commission- 
ers. In the remonstrance they declared, that 
New-Haven was not a colony, but a part of Con- 
necticut, and avowed their claim to it as such. 
They insisted, that owning that as a colony, dis- 
tinct from Connecticut, after his majesty had, by 
his letters patent, incorporated it with that colo- 
ny, was inconsistent with the king's pleasure ; 
would endanger the rights of all the colonies, 
and especially the charter-rights of Connecticut^ 
The assembly, at the same time, declared, that 



SUPPLEMENT. 365 

they would have a tender regard to their honored 
friends and brethren, at New-Haven, and exert 
themselves to accommodate them, with all the im- 
munities and privileges which they conveyed by 
their charter. 

On the 1st of September, the court of commis- 
sioners met at Hartford. The commissioners from 
New-Haven were allowed their seats with the 
other confederates. The case of New-Haven 
and Connecticut was fully heard, and though the 
court did not approve of the manner, in which 
Connecticut had proceeded, yet they earnestly 
pressed a speedy and amicable union of the two 
colonies. They represented, that the divine hon- 
or, and the welfare of all the colonies, as well as 
their own, were greatly concerned in the event. 

To remove all obstructions on their part, the 
commissioners recommended it to the general 
courts of Massachusetts and Plymouth, that in 
case the colony of New-Haven should incorpo- 
rate with Coimecticut, they might then be owned 
as one colony, and send two commissioners to 
each meeting; and that the determinations of any 
four of the six, should be equally binding on the 
confederates, as the conclusions of six out of eight, 
had been before. It was also proposed to the 
court, that the meeting, which of course had been 
at New-Haven, should be at Hertford. 

In compliance with the advice of the commis- 
sioners, governor Leet convened the general 
court at New-Haven, on the 14th of September, 
and communicated the advice which had been 
given, and papers from the committee of Con- 
necticut, advising and urging them to unite. 
They referred it to their most serious considera- 
tion, whether, if the king's commissioners should 
visit them, they would not be much better able to 

31* 



366 SUPPLEMEN'T. 

vindicate their liberty and just rights, in union 
with Connecticut, under a royal patent, than in 
their then present circumstances. Many insisted 
notwithstanding, " That to stand as God had 
kept them to that time was their best way." 
Others were entirely of the contrary opinion, and 
after the fullest discussion of the subject, no vote 
for union or treaty could be obtained. 

New-Haven and Bran ford were more fixed and. 
obstinate in their opposition to an incorporation 
with Connecticut, than any of the other towns in 
that colony. Mr. Davenport and Mr. Pierson 
seem to have been among its chief supporters. 
They, with many of the inhabitants of the colony, 
were more rigid, with respect to the terms of 
church communion, than the ministers and 
churches of Connecticut generally were. The 
ministers and churches of Connecticut were, a 
considerable number of them, in favor of the pro- 
positions of the general council, which met at 
Cambridge, in 1962, relative to the baptism of 
children, wliose parents were not in full com- 
munion. The ministers and churches of New- 
Haven were universally and utterly against them» 
Mr. Davenport, and others in this colony, were 
also strong in the opinion, that all government 
should be in the church. No person in this colo- 
ny could be a freeman, unless he were a member 
in full communion. But in Connecticut, all or- 
derly persons, possessing a freehold to a certain 
amount, might be made free of the corporation. 
Those gentlemen, who were so strong in the op- 
position, were, doubtless, jealous that an union, 
would mar the purity, order, and beauty of their 
churches, and have an ill influence on the civit 
administrations. The removal of the seat of 
governmen* : the ??nprehensiop which, sooae had 



SLPPLEMENT. 36T 

©f losing their places of trust and general influ- 
ence ; with strong prejudices and passions against 
Connecticut, on account of the injuries, which it 
was conceived it had done the colony, all ope- 
rated in forming the opposition. Besides, it was 
a painful reflection, that, after they had been at 
so much pains and expense to form and support 
themselves as a distinct commonwealth, and had 
been many years owned as one, their existence 
must cease and their name be obliterated. 

This event, however, was hastening, and grew 
more and more urgent. Milford, at this t:me, 
broke ofl" from them, and would no more send 
either magistrate or deputies to the general court. 
Mr. Richard Law, a principal gentleman at Stam- 
ford, also deserted them. 

In this state of aftairs, the general assembly of' 
Connecticut convened, on the I3th of October^. 
This was an important crisis with the colony. In. 
few instances, have so many important objects of 
consideration, at one time, presented themselves 
to a legislature. Their liberties were not only in 
equal danger with those of their sister colonies, 
from the extraordinary powers, and arbitrary dis- 
positions and measures of the kin4i's commission- 
ers, but the duke of York, a powerful antagonist,, 
hud received a patent, covering Long Island and^ 
all that part of the colony west of Connecticut 
river. The Massachusetts were encroaching up- 
on them on their eastern and northern bounda-- 
ries. William and Anne, the duke and dutchess 
of Hamilton, had petitioned his riiajesty to restore 
to them the tract of country grained to their fa- 
ther, James, marquis of Hamilton, in the year 
1635 ; and his majesty had, on the 6th of May, 
16G4j referred the case to the iietermination oC 
colonel Nichols, mid thQ other commissionexs 



368 SUPPLEMENT. 

Besides, tlie state of affairs with New-Haven was 
neither comfortable nor safe. 

In these circumstances, the legislature viewed 
it as a point of capital importance to conciliate the 
commissioners, and obtain the good graces of his 
majesty. For this purpose, they ordered a pre- 
sent of five hundred bushels of corn, to be made 
to the king's commissioners. A large committee 
was appointed to settle the boundaries between 
Connecticut and the duke of York. A commit- 
tee, consisting of Mr. Allen, Mr. Wyllys, Mr. Tal- 
cott, and Mr. Newburry, was also appointed to 
settle the boundary line between this colony and 
Massachusetts, and between Connecticut and 
Rhode-Island. They were instructed not to give 
away any part of the lands, included within the 
limits of the charter. 

Mr. Sherman, Mr. Allen, and the secretary, 
were authorised to proceed to New-Haven, and, 
by order of the general assembly, " in his majes- 
ty's name, to require the inhabitants of New-Ha- 
ven, Milford, Branford, Guilford, and Stamford, to 
submit to the government established by his ma- 
jesty's gracious grant to this colony, and to re- 
ceive their answer." They had instructions to 
declare all the freemen, in those towns, free of 
the corporation of Connecticut ; and to make all 
others, in the respective towns mentioned, quali- 
fied according to law, freemen of Connecticut. 
At the same time, they were directed to adminis- 
ter to them the freemen's oath. 

Besides, they were authorised to make dclara- 
tion, that the assembly did invest William Leet 
and William Jones, Esquires, Mr. Gilbert, Mr. 
Fenn, Mr. Crane, Mr. Treat, and Mr. Law, with 
the powers of Magifvtracy; to govern their re- 
spective plantations agreeably to the laws of 



SUPPLEMENT. 3^9 

Connecticut, or such of their own laws, as were 
not inconsistent with the charter, until their ses- 
sion Ml May next. It was proclaimed also, that 
all other officers, civil and military, were estab- 
iished in their respective places; and that cogni- 
zance should not be taken of any case which had 
been prosecuted, to a final adjudication, in any of 
the courts of that colony. 

^u'^l^n ,^''"i'''"'^" appointed to this service, on 
the 19th of November, went to New-Haven, and 
proceeded according to their instructions. 

About the same time. Governor Winthrop, Mr 
Allen, Mr. Gould, Mr. Richards, and John Win^ 
throp the committee appointed to settle the 
boundaries between Connecticut and New-^York 
waited upon the commissioners on York-Island' 
After they had been fully heard, in behalf of Con^ 
necticut, the commissioners determined^ " That 
the southern bounds of his majesty's colony of 
Connecticut is the sea; and that Long-Island is 
to be under the government of his royal highness 
the duke of York, as is expressed by plain words 
in the said patents respectively. We also order 
and declare, that the creek or river called Mama- 
ronock, which is reputed to be about twelve miles 
to the east of West-Chester, and a line drawn 
from the east point or side, where the fresh water 
falls into the salt, at hjgh water mark, north- 
north-west, to the line of Massachusetts, be the 
western bounds of the said colony of Connecticut ; 
and the plantations lying westward of that creek' 
and line so drawn, to be under his royal high- 
ness' government ; and all plantations lying east- 
ward of that creek and line, to be under the go- 
vernment of Connecticut. 

In consequence of the acts of Connecticut, 
and the determination of the commissioners, rel^-. 



370 SUPPLEMENT. 

tivo to the boundaries of the colony, a general 
court was caiiecl at New-Haven, with the freemen, 
and as many of the inhabitants of the colony as 
chose to attend, on the 13th of December, 1664. 
The following resolutions were then unanimously 
passed. 

1. "That, by this act or vote, we be not under- 
stood to justify Connecticut's former actings, nor 
any thing disorderly done by their own people, on 
such accounts." 

2. "That by it, we be not apprehended to 
have any hand in breaking or dissolving the con- 
federation." 

3. "Yet, in loyalty to the king's majesty, when 
an auil.entic copy of the determination of his 
majesty's commiSKioners is published, to be re- 
corded with us, if thereby it shall appear to our 
committee, that we are, by his majesty's authori- 
ty, now put under Connect.cut patent, we shall 
submit, by a necess-ty brought upon us, by the 
means of Connecticut aforesaid ; but with a solvo 
jure of our former riglits and claims, as a people, 
who have not yet been heard in point of plea." 

NoT^: T. 
While the churches wore thus divided, they 
were alarmed by tiie appeara!ice of the Quakers. 
A number of them arrived at Boston, in July and 
August, and had been committed to the common 
goal. A great number of their books hpd been 
seized with a view to born them. In consequence 
of their arrival, and the disturbance they had 
made at Boston, thn commissuMiers of the uriited 
colonies, at their court in September, recommend- 
ed it to the several general courts, "That all 
Qaak-rs, Ranters, and other notorious !ieretics, 
should be prohibited coming into the united co- 



SUPPLEMENT'. 37 1 

lonies ; and that, if any should come, or arise 
amongst them, they should be forthwith secured, 
and reraoved out of all the jurisdictions," 

In conformity to this recommendation, the ge- 
neral court of Connecticut, in October, passed 
the following act. " That no town within this ju- 
risdiction, shall entertain any Quakers, Ranters, 
Adamites, or such like notorious heretics, nor suf- 
fer them to continue in them above the space of 
fourteen days, upon the penalty of iive pounds 
per week, for any town entertaining any such 
person : But the townsmen shall give notice to 
the two next magistrates, or assistants, who shall 
have power to send them to prison, for securing 
them, until they can conveniently be sent out of 
the jurisdiction It is also ordered, that no master 
of a vessel shall land any such heretics ; but if they 
do, they shall be compelled to transport them again 
out of the colony, by any two magistrates or as- 
sistants, at their first setting sail from the port 
where they landed them ; during which time, the 
assistant or magistrate shall see them secured, 
upon penalty of twenty pounds for any master of 
any vessel, that shall not transport them as afore- 
said." 

>N0TE U. 

Mr. Dudley, while president of the commis- 
sioners, had written to the governor and company, 
advising them to resign the charter into the hands 
of his majesty, and promising to use his influence 
in favor of the colony. Mr. Dudley's commis- 
sion was superseded by a commission to Sir Ed- 
mund Andros, to be governor of New-England. 
H- arrived at Boston, on the ]9th of December, 
1630. The next day, his commission was pub- 
lished, and he took on him the administration of 



372 SUPPLEMENT* 

government. Soon after his arrival, he wrote to 
the governor and company, that he had a com- 
mission, from his majesty, to receive their charter, 
if they would resign it ; and he pressed them, in 
obedience to the king, and as they would give 
him an opportunity to serve them, to resign it to 
hLs pleasure. At this session of the assembly, 
the governor received another letter from 
hiin, acquainting him, that he was assured, 
by the advice which he had received from Eng- 
land, that judgment was, by that time, entered 
upon the quo warranto against their charter, and 
that lie soon expected to receive his majesty's 
commands respecting them. He urged them, as 
he represented it, that he might not be wanting 
in serving their welfare, to accept his majesty's 
favor so graciously oiiered them, in a present 
compliance and surrender. Colonel Dungan 
also ur^ed his influence to persuade them to re- 
sign, and put themselves under his government. 
But the colony insisted on their charter rights, 
and on the promise of King James, as well as of 
his royal brother, to defend and secure them in 
the enjoyment of their privileges and estates ; 
and would not surrender their charter to either. 
However, in their petition to the king, in which 
they prayed for the continuance of their chartered 
rights, they desired, if this could not be obtained, 
but it should be resolved to put them under an- 
other government, that it might be under Sir 
Edmund's, as the Massachusetts had been their 
former correspondents and confederates, and as 
they were acquainted with their principles and 
manners. This was construed into a resignation, 
though nothing could be furiiier from the design 
of the colony. 

The assembly met as usual, in October, and the 



S¥PPLEMENt. S7S 

government continued according to charter, un- 
til the last of the month. About this time, Hir 
Edmund, with his suit, and more than sixty regu- 
lar troops, came to Hartford, when the assembly 
were sitting, demanded the charter, and declared 
the government under It to be dissolved. The 
assembly were extremely reluctant and slow, 
with respect to any resolve to surrender the char- 
ter, or with respect to any motion to bring it forth. 
The tradition is, that Governor Treat represented 
tho great expense and hardships of the colonists, 
in planting the country, the blood and treasure 
which they had expended in defending it, both 
against the savages and foreigners ; to what 
hardships and dangers he himself had been ex- 
posed for that purpose; and that it was like giv- 
ing up his life, now to surrender the patent and 
privileges, so dearly bought and so long enjoyed. 
The important affair was debated and kept in sus- 
pense until the evening, when tlse charter was 
brought and laid upon the table, where the as- 
sembly were sitting. By tins time, great num- 
bers of people were assembled, and njen suffi- 
ciently bold to enterprise whatever might be ne- 
cessary or expedient. The lights were instantly 
extinguished, and oneCupt. Wadsworthj of Hart- 
ford, in the most silent and secret manner, carri- 
ed off the charter, and secreted it in a large 'fol- 
low tree, fronting the house of the Hon. Samuel 
Wyllys, then one of the magistrates of the colony. 
The people appeared all peaceable and orderly. 
The candles were officiously relighted, but the 
patent was gone, and no discovery could be made 
of it, or of the person, who had conveyed it away. 
Sir Edmund assumed tlie government, and the 
record.-: of the colony were closed in the follow- 
ing words. 

S2 



374 SUPPLEMENT. 

" At a general court at Hartford; October 31st, 
1687, His Excellency Sir Edmund Andros, knight, 
and captain general and governor of his majesty's 
territories and dominions in New-England, by or- 
der from his majesty, James the H. king of Eng- 
land, Scotland, France, and Ireland, the 31st of 
October, 1687, took into his hands the govern- 
ment of the colony of Connecticut, it being, by 
his majesty, annexed to Massachusetts, and other 
colonies under his excellency's government. 
"FINIS." 

Sir Edmund appointed officers civil and mili- 
tary, through the colony, according to his plea- 
sure. He had a council, at first, consisting of 
a )out forty persons, and afterwards, of nearly 
Jrty. Four of this number, Gov. Treat, John Fitz 
Winthrop, Wait Winthrop, and John Allen, es- 
^juires, were of Connecticut. 

V. 

Scarcely any thing could be more gloomy and 
distressful, than the state of public affairs, in 
Jew-England, at the beginning of this year. But 
.r the midst of darkness light arose. While the 

ople had prayed in vain to an earthly monarch, 
their petitions had been more successfully pre- 
sented to a higher throne. Providence wrought 
gloriously for their and the nation's deliverance. 
On the 5th of November, 1688, the prince of Or- 
ange landed at Torbay, in England. He imme- 
diately published a declaration of his design, in 
visiting the kingdom. A copy of this was re- 
ceived at Boston, by one Mr. Winslow, a gentle- 
man from Virginia, in April 1689. Governor 
Andross and his council were so much alarmed 
with the news, that they ordered Mr. Winslow to 
be arrested and committed to jail for bringing a 



SUPPLEMENT. 376 

false and traitorous libel into the country. They 
also issued a proclamation comm rriduig all the 
officers and people to be in readmess to prevent 
the landing of any forces which the prince of 
Orange might send into that part of America. 
But the people, who sighed under their burthens, 
secretly wished and prayed for success to his glo- 
rious undertaking. The leaders in the country 
determined quietly to await the event; but the 
great body of the people had less patience. 
Stung With past injuries, and encouraged at the 
first intimations of relief, the fire of liberty re- 
kindled, and the flame, which, for a long time, 
had been smothered in their bosoms, burst forth 
with irresistible violence. 

On the 1:5th of April, the inhabitants of Boston 
and the adjacent towns rose in arms, made them- 
selves masters of the castle, seized Sir Edmund 
Andross and his council, and persuaded the old 
governor and council, at Boston, to resume the 
government. 

On the ^th of May, 1669, governor Robert 
Treat, deputy governor James Bishop, and the 
former magistrates, at the desire of the freemen, 
resumed the government of Connecticut. Major 
general John Winthrop was, at the same time 
chosen into the magistracy, to complete the 
number appointed by charter. The freemen vo- 
ted, that, for the present safety of tliat part of 
New-England called Connecticut, the necessity 
of its circumstances so requiring, "they would 
re-establish government, as it was before, and at 
the time, when Sir Edmund Andross took it, and 
so have it proceed, as it did before that time, ac- 
cording to charter; engaging themselves to sub- 
mit to it accordingly, until there should be a legal 
establishment among them." 



SUPPLEMENT. 



The assembly having formed, came to the fol- 
lowing resolution: "That whereas this court 
hath been interrupted, in the management of the 
government in this colony of Connecticut, for 
nineteen months past, it is now enacted, ordered, 
and declared, that all the laws of this colony, 
made according to charter, and courts constituted 
for the admmistration of government, as they 
were before the late interruption, shall be of full 
force and virtue, for the future, and until this 
court shall see cause to malvc further and other 
alterations, according to charter." The assembly 
then confirmed all military officers in their re- 
spective posts, and proceeded to appoint their 
civil officers, as had been customary at the May 
session. 

W. 
An Address to King William, June ]oth, 168D: 

To the king's most excellent majesty. 
The humble address ofyour majesty's dutiful and 
loyal subjects, the governor and- company of 
your majesty's colony of Connecticut, in New- 
England. 

Great Sovereign, 
GREAT was that day, when the Lord, who 
sitteth upon the floods, and sitteth king forever, 
did divide his and your adversaries from one an- 
other, like the waters of Jordan forced to stand 
upon an heap, and did begin to magnify you like 
Joshua, in the sight of all Israel, by those great 
actions that were so much for the honor of God, 
and the deliverance of the English dominions 
from Dopery and slavery, and all this separated 
from those sorrows that usually attend the intro- 
ducing of a peaceable settlement in any troubled 
state; all which doth affect us with the sense of 



^UPPLEJVTENT. 377 

our duty to return the highest praise unto the 
King of Kings and Lord of Hosts, and bless 
Him, who hath delighted in you, to sit you on the 
throne of his Israel, and to say because the Lord 
loved Israel forever, therefore hath he made you 
king to do justice and judgment, &c. also hum- 
ble and hearty acknowledgement for that great 
zeal, that by your majesty hath been expressed in 
those hazards, you have put your royal person to, 
and in the expense of so great treasure in the de- 
fence of the protestant interest. In the conside- 
ration of all whichj we, your majesty's dutiful and 
loyal subjects of your said colony, are encouraged 
humbly to intimate that we, with much favor, ob- 
tained a charter of king Charles II. of happy me- 
mory, bearing date April 23d, 1662, in the 14tb 
year of his reign, granted to the governor and 
company of his majesty's colony of Connecticut, 
the advantages and privileges whereof made us 
indeed a very happy people, and by the blessing 
of God upon our endeavors, we have made a con- 
siderable improvement of your dominions herer 
which, with the defence of ourselves from the 
force of both foreign and intestine enemies, has 
cost us much expense of treasure and blood ; yet 
in the second year af the reign of his late majesty 
king James the H. we had a quo-warranto served 
upon us by Edward Randolph, requiring our ap- 
pearance before his majesty's court, in England ^ 
and although the time of our appearance was 
elapsed before the serving the said quo-warranto,. 
yet we humbly petitioned his majesty for his fa- 
vor, and the continuance of our charter, with the 
privileges thereof; but we received no other fa- 
vor but a second quo-warranto, and we well ob- 
serving that the charter of London, and other, 
soosiderable cities in England were condemaed, 

32* 



m^, 



378 SUPPLEMENT. 

and that the charter of the Massachusetts had 
undergone the like fate, plainly saw what we 
mi:yht expect, yet we not judging it good or law-, 
fui to be active in surrendering what had cost us 
so dear, nor to be altogether silent, we employed 
an attorney to appear in our behalf, and to prefer 
our humble address to his majesty, to entreat his 
favor quickly upon it ; but as Sir Edmund An- 
dross informed us he was empowered by his ma- 
jesty to regain the surrender of our charter, if we 
saw meet so to do, and to take ourselves under 
his government ; also colonel Thomas Dungan, 
his majesty's governor of New-York, labored to 
gain us over to his government : we withstood all 
these motions, and in our reiterated addresses, we 
petitioned his majesty to continue us in the full 
and free enjoyment of our liberties and property, 
civil and sacred, according to our charter. We 
also petitioned, that if his majesty should not see 
meet to continue us as we were, but was resolved 
to annex us to some other government, we then 
desired, that (in as much as Boston had been our 
old correspondents, and people whose pirnciples 
and manners we had been acquainted with) we 
might be annexed rather to Sir Edmund Andross 
his government, than to colonel Dungan's which 
choice of ours was taken for a resignation of our 
government, though that was never intended by 
us for such, nor had it tlie formalities in law to 
make it a resignation, as we humbly conceive, 
yet Sir Edmund Andross was commissioned, by 
his majesty, to take us under his government; 
pursuant to which about the end of October, 1 6S7, 
he with a company of gentlemen and grenadiers.^ 
to the number of sixty or upwards came to Hart- 
ford (the chief seat of this government) caused his. 
Qonamission to be read, and declared our govern- 



SUPPLEMENT. 



ment to be dissolved, and put into commission 
both civil and military officers througli our colo- 
ny as he pleased, where he passed through the 
principal parts thereof. The good people of the 
colony, though they were under a great sense of 
injuries they sustained hereby, yet'chose rather 
to be silent and patient than to oppose, being in- 
deed surprised into an involuntary submission to 
an arbitrary power, but when the governniunt we 
were thus put under, seemed to us, to be deter- 
mined, and we being m daily fear and hazard of 
those many inconveniences, that will arise from 
a people in want of government, being also in 
continual danger of our lives by reason of the 
natives being at war with us, wifh whom we had 
just fears of our neighboring French to join, not 
receiving any order or direction what method to 
take for our security, we were necessitated to put 
ourselves into some form of government, and 
there being none so familiar to us as that of our 
charter, nor what we could make so effectual for 
the gaining the universal compliance of the peo- 
ple, and having never received any intimation of 
an enrolment of that, which was interpreted a re- 
signation of our charter, we have presumed, by 
the consent of the major part of the freemen, as- 
sembled for that end, May 9th, 1689, to resume 
our government, according to the rules of our 
charter, and this to continue lill further order, 
yet as we have tlius presumed to dispose ourselves, 
not waiting orders from your majesty, we humbly 
submit ourselves herein, intreating your majesty's 
most gracious pardon, and that what our urgent 
necessity hath put upon us, may no ways inter- 
rupt your majesty's grace and favor towards us, 
your most humble and dutiful subjects, but that 
m your clemency you would be pleased to grant 



380 SUPPLEMENT. 

US such directions as to your princely vvisdowfe 
may seem meei, with such ratifications and con- 
firmations of our charter, in the fiill and free en- 
joyment of all our properties, privileges, and li- 
berties both civil and sacred, as therein granted 
to us, by your royal predecessor, king Charles the 
II. which may yet further insure it an inheritance 
to us and our posterities after us, with what far- 
ther grace and favor your royal and enlarged heart 
may be moved to confer upon us ; which, we 
trust, we shall not forget, nor be unprofitable un- 
der ; but as we have this day with the greatest 
dX'^ressions of joy, proclaimed your majesty and 
* 3 il consort king and queen of England, France 
Ireland, with the dominions thereto belong- 
so we shall ever pray, that God would grant 
,r majesties long to live, and prosperously to 
gn over all your dominions, and tiiat great and 
ppy work you have begun may be prospered 
; ve and graciously rewarded with a crown of 
irioiy hereafter. 

ROBEPvT TREAT, Governor. 
j,'-ir order of the general court of Connecticut, 
signed, Joxin Allen, Secretary. 

Note X. 
Of the separation from the standing churches, 
an account has been given, and of the disorders 
and oppressions of those times when they com- 
menced. Churches of this character were formed 
in New-London, Stonington, Preston, Norwich,. 
Lyme, Canterbury, Plainfield, Windsor, Suflield 
and Middletovvn. Some of their churches and 
congregations were nearly as large as some of 
the standing churches. There were ten or twelve 
churches and congregations of this denomination, 
%st and last, in the colonv. Sonie of them ca?- 



SUPPLEMENT. 381 

Hed their enthusiasm to a greater extent than 
others. In New London, they carried it to such 
a degree, that they made a large fire to burn their 
books, clothes, and ornaments, which they called 
their idols ; and which they now determined to 
forsake and utterly to put away. This imagina- 
ry work of piety and self-denial they undertook 
on the Lord's day, and brought their books, neck- 
daces and jewels together, in the main-street. 
They began with burning their erroneous books : 
dropping them one after another into the fire, 
pronouncing these words, " If the author of this 
book died in the same sentiments and faith in 
which he wrote it, as the smoke of this pile as- 
cends, so the smoke of his torment will ascend 
forever and ever. Hallelujah. Amen." But 
they were prevented from burning their clothes 
and jewels. John Lee of Lyme, told them his 
idols were his wife and children, and that he 
could not burn them : it would be contrary to 
the laws of God and man : That it was impossi- 
ble to destroy idolatry without a change of hearty 
and of the affections. 

Note Y. 
The Rev. Mr. Dean went to England, and took 
orders for the church at Hebron, but died at sea, 
on his return, about the year 1745. The Rev. Mr. 
Punderson of Groton, then preached to them and 
administered the sacrament from 1746 to 1752. 
The people of Hebron, were very unfortunate 
with respect to the gentlemen who went to Eng- 
land for orders in their behalf A Mr. Cotton, in 
1752, received orders for them, but he died on his 
passage for New-England, with the small pox. 
Mr. Graves of Nevv'-London, served them from 
1752 to 1757. In 1757, one Mr. Usher wen^ foF 



382 SUPPLEMENT. 

orders in their behalf. He was taken by the 
French on his passage to England, and died in 
captivity. 

The Rev. Samuel Peters was ordained their 
priest, in August, 1759, and the next year return- 
ed to New-England. He continued priest at I^- 
bron, until the commencement of the revolutiona- 
ry war, soon after which, he left this country for 
Great-Britain. 

Note Z. 

As literature and a general diffusion of chris- 
tian knowledge were considered as iiighly im- 
' rtant for the maintaining and advancing of re- 
■ ion, as well as for the liberty, dignity and hap- 
less of the commonwealth, the collegiate school 
.iitracted the special attention, both of the legis- 
iRfure and cler^xy. Though gericrous donations 
d been made for its encouragement and sup- 
p rt, yet the state of it was far from being flourish- 
{> r and happy. The students were separated 
o from another. The senior class were- at 
M.ltbrd, under the instruction of" Mr. Andrew, the 
.o",tor pro tempore, and the other classes at Say- 
.^ii^ok, under the instruction of two tutors. In 
this scattered state, the principal part of the 
school were very little benefitted by tJie instruc- 
tions and government of the rector, v/hieh were 
of great importance to its general order and ad- 
vancement. The books were necessarily divided 
and exposed to be lost. The same general bene- 
fit could not, in this state, be derived from the 
library. At the same time the scholars were dis- 
satisfied, both with the place and manner of their 
instruction. They judged that Saybrook was not 
sufficiently compact tor their accommodation. 
Some of them were obliged to reside more than a 



SUPPLEMENT. 383 

mile from the place of their public exercises. 
They were n > better pleased with their instruc- 
tion and government, as they had no resident rec- 
tor, and the tutors were often young and inexpe- 
rienced. The students were not the only persons 
who complained. From the beginning, there 
had been a disagreement with respect to the 
place where the college should be fixed. Mens' 
opinions with respect to it were generally govern- 
ed by their interest. They generally chose the 
place which would best accommodate them- 
selves. This created warm parties in the colony, 
and even created a division amonsc the trustees. 
Some were for continuing it at Saybrook, others 
were zealously engaged to remove it to Hartford 
or Weathersfield. A third party were not less 
engaged finally to fix it at New-Haven. In this 
state of things, numbers of the students became 
clamorous, and openly manifested their disaffec- 
tion and disrespect towards their tutors. This 
made it necessary for the trustees to meet and 
examine the reasons of their uneasiness and dis- 
order. 

They met at Saybrook, April 4th 1716. When 
the scholars came before them, they complained 
of the insufficiency of their instruction and the 
inconveniences of the place, as their principal 
grievances. Especially the scholars from Hart- 
ford, Weathersfield, and the towns in that vicini- 
ty, alleged, that it was a hardship to oblige them 
to reside at Saybrook, when they could be as well 
instructed and much better accommodated near 
home. It has been the tradition, that most of 
these complaints had been suggested to them by 
others, with a view to foment a general uneasi- 
ness, and by these means affect the removal of 
the college. 



384 SUPPLEMEJS'ic 

After a long debate on the circumstances of 
the school, it appeared that the trustees were no 
better agreed than the students, and that some of 
them were governed by motives which they did not 
choose openly to avow. Some of them so strongly 
advocated the cause of the Hartford and Weath- 
ersfield scholars, that a majority of the trustees 
condescended to give a toleration to them, and 
others who were most uneasy, to go to such pla- 
ces of instruction, until commencement, as should 
best suit their inclinations. The consequence 
was, that the greatest part of them went to 
Weathersfield, aud put themselves under the in- 
- uction of the Rev. Elisha Williams, pastor of 
ti 8-church in Nevvint. Some went to other pla- 
ins, and a number continued at Saybrook. But 
,i J small pox, soon after, breaking out in the 
vn, these generally removed to East Guilford, 
i were under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Hart, 
d Mr. Russell, till the commencement. 
As the collegiate school was in this broken 
te, and as the trustees were not agreed among 
imselves, in what place it should be fixed, the 
:)ple, in different parts of the colony, began to 
)scrlbe considerable sums for the building of a 
college, that, by these means, they might induce 
the trustees to fix it accordino- to their wishes. 
About 700 pounds sterling was subscribed for 
the establishment of it at New-Haven, 500 pounds 
for fixing it at Saybrook, and considerable sums, 
for the same purpose, at Hartford and Weathers- 
field. 

At the commencement, Sept. 12th, 1716, the 
trustees met, at Saybrook, and took into conside- 
ration the state and place of the collegiate school, 
but as they could not agree with respect to the 
place in which it should be established, they ad- 



SUPPLEMENT. 385 

jounied, until the 17th of October, to meet at 
New-Haven. 

The trustees, for the first time, met at New- 
Haven, according to adjournment. There weve 
present, the Rev. Messrs. Samuel Andrew, Timo- 
thy Worjdbridge, Joseph Webb, Samuel Russel, 
Moses Noyes, John Davenport, Thomas Bucking- 
ham and Tiiomas Ruggles. They had now had 
further time and opportunity to consult the opin- 
ions and feelings of the people, to obtain tfce 
opinion of Governor Salstonstall, and of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, and to know what subscriptions 
had been made for one place and another. Hav- 
ing obtained all the information on the subject 
which they judged necessary, they voted, " That 
considering the difficulties of continuing the col- 
legiate school at Saybrook, and that New-Haven 
is a convenient place for it, for which the most 
liberal donations are given, the trustees agree to 
remove the said school from Saybrook to New- 
Haven, and it is now settled at New Haven ac- 
cordingly." Five of the trustees present, were 
in the vote ; Mr. Woodbridge and Mr. Bucking- 
ham were for Weathersfield. Mr N^oyes declar- 
ed that he did not see the necessity of removing 
the school from Saybrook : btit if it must be re- 
moved, his mind was to settle it at New-Haven. 

The trustees at this m etins:, received 250 
pounds sterlins^, which the General Assembly had 
granted some years before, arising from the sale 
of the equivalent lands. They had before in the 
treasury ab^ut 125 pounds. These sums, with 
the 1 «r(yn subscriptions which had been made for 
the budding of the college at New-Haven, en- 
courage 1 thr- trustees to vote that they would 
build a large, convenient college, and a rector's 



SS6 SUPPLEMENT. 

house at New-Haven : and they appointed a com- 
niiltee to accomplish the work. 

They voted, that the Rev. Mr. Andrew should 
continue rector, pro tempore until a fixed rector- 
could be obtained. They also appointed two 
tutors : and gave orders that all the students be- 
longing to the school, should repair to New-Ha- 
ven for instruction and government. At the same 
time, they appointed Mr. Stephen Buckingham 
of^Norwalk, one of the trustees. The scholars 
who had been studying at East Guilford, came to 
New-Haven, according to the direction of the 
trustees ; but none came from Weathersfield. 
Such was their obstinacy, and such the counte- 
pi. nee and support which others gave them, that 
■ ;y continued their studies there until the next 

nmencement. The trustees sent the record of 
meir doings at this meeting, to the Rev. Mr. 
James Noyes of Stonington, who on the I9th of 
December, signed it, and declared his hearty con- 
currence with every vote. 

The trustees met again at New-Haven, the 
next April. At this meeting, seven trustees, the 
Tlev. Messrs. James Noyes, Samuel Andrew, 
S?<n{uel Russel, Joseph Webb, John Davenport, 
Thorjr^i Ruggles, and Stephen Buckingham, 
were present. The acts which had been passed 
at the preceding meeting, at this were read, voted 
and subscribed by all the members present, ex- 
cept Mr. Buckingham, who on account of his re- 
latives and friends at Saybrook, judged it expedi- 
ent not to act. 

While the trustees in general, were fixed in 
their determination to establish the college at 
New-Haven, they met with a strong opposition 
from gentlemen in the northern and eastern parts 
of the colony. The people in general, were 



SUPPLEMENT. 387 

warmly engaged on one side or the other, which 
occasioned the affair several times to be taken up 
and warmly debated in the General Assembly. 
No act however, had as yet been passed relating 
to the subject. The trustees pursuing their own 
resolutions with firmness and constancy, held the 
commencement at New-Haven. Mr. Andrew 
moderated as rector pro tempore. Four senior 
sophisters came from Saybrook, and received the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts, and numbers were 
admitted to the degree of Masters. The number 
of students was thity-one : of whom thirteen, the 
past year, had studied at New- Haven, fourteen at 
Weathersiield, and four at Saybrook. 

Soon after the conjmencement, the college 
house was raised at New-Haven. Nevertheless, 
Messrs. Woodbridge, Buckingham, and their re- 
spective parties, persisted in their opposition to 
the proceedings of the trustees. They, in the 
October session, presented a remonstrance to the 
Assembly, alledging, that the votes of the trustees 
to fix the college at New-Haven, in. October 17th, 
1716, and April 5th, 1718, were not legal. They 
insisted, That the major part of them were not in 
the votes, and that one was not qualified accord- 
ing to law: That in October, 171G, there were, 
at least, nine existing trustees, and that four of 
them only were in the vote : That Mr. Ruggles 
was chosen before he was forty years of age ; and 
that the choice was therefore null: and that Mr. 
Noyes' consent to the votes so long after, and at 
such a distance, could avail nothing to their con- 
firmation. In the acts of April, 1717, they' 
aflirmed that there were five trustees only out of 
ten. 

The trustees replied, That in October, 1716, 
there were but nine trustees : That a vacancy had 



oS8 SUPPLEMENT. 

been made by the death of Mr. Pierpont, which 
had not been supplied ; and that Mr. Mather of 
Windsor, had been bed-rid many years, had re- 
signed his ministry, and could not, in those cir- 
cumstrnces, be considered as a trustee. They 
pleaded, that if Mr. Pvuggles was not forty years 
of age at the lime of his nomination, yet that at 
the time when the vote was passed, he had arrived 
to that age ; and that the trustees, in conformity 
to their previous nomination, admitting him to sit 
and act, had associated him according to their 
charter. With respect to Mr. Noyes, they re- 
plied, that as they were not limited as to the 
manner of their acting, he, though absent at tlie 
time of their meeting, might give his consent to 
said act, by subscribing it at home, some time af- 
ter, as well as if he had been present. They 
therefore insisted that there was a majority of six 
out of nine : and that in April, 1717, after the 
choice of Mr. Stephen Buckingham, there was a 
majority of six out often. They further insisted, 
that if Mr. Ruggles should not be reckoned at 
either of the mejtings, nor Mr. Noyes, nor any 
other of the trustees when absent, that there was 
a majority of those present, which constituted a 
legal act. 

After a full hearing, the upper house resolved, 
" That the objections against the vote of the trus- 
tees, were insufficient." The lower house after 
a long debate, resolved nothing relative to the 
subject. This shows how deeply the colony felt 
itself interested in this affair, and how unhappily 
it was divided. 

The trustees, who were then convened at New- 
Haven, wishing to remove all occasion of objec- 
tion for t!ie future, passed a vote, in which they 
declared Mr. Ruggles to be a trustee, and asso- 



SUPPLEMENT. 389 

ciated him as such. They also passed a vote, 
predicated on several former acts, in which they 
finally fixed the college at New-Haven. To this, 
for the greater selemnity, seven of the trustees, 
James Noyes, Moses Noyes, Samuel Andrew, 
Samuel Russel, Joseph Webb, John Davenport, 
and Thomas Ruggles, set their hands. The rea- 
sons assigned by the trustees for establishing the 
college at New-Haven, were, the difficulties of 
keeping it at Saybrook, arising partly from the 
uneasiness of the students, and partly from the 
continual attempts of numbers of gentlemen to 
remove it to Hartford. They judged that to be 
too far from the sea, and that it would by no 
means accommodate the western and southern 
colonies, in most of which, at that period, there 
were no colleges. They were also of opiniori, 
that New-Haven, on the account of its commo- 
dious situation, the salubrity and agreeableness 
of its air, and the cheapness of its commodities, 
was the best adapted to that purpose. Further, 
the largest donations had been made there, with- 
out which they could not defray the expense of 
building the college house. 

In these circumstances, the General Assembly, 
desirous of strengthening the hands of the trustees 
and of promoting the interests of the college, be- 
fore the close of the sessions, in October, passed 
the following act: "That under the present cir- 
cumstances of the collegiate school, the reverend 
trustees be advised to proceed in that affair, and 
to finish the house which they have built in New- 
Haven for the entertainment of the scholars be- 
longing to the collegiate school." At the same 
time, the Assembly granted one hundred pounds 
to be distributed among the instructors of the 
college. 

33* 



389 * SUPPLEMENT. 

Notwithstanding it seemed as though the col- 
lege was now established at New-Haven, both by 
the trustees and the General Assembly, there 
were gentlemen who continued fixed in the plan 
of establishing it at Weathersfield. They en- 
couraged the students who had been instructed 
there the last year, who were about fourteen in 
number, to continue their studies still in the same 
place. At the session in May following, the 
house of representatives voted, " to desire the 
trustees to consent that the commencement should 
be held alternately at Weathersfield and New- 
Haven, till the place of the school be fully de- 
termined." 

About this time, the college at New-Haven re- 
ceived a number of large and generous donations ; 
which at this period, when the college was strug- 
ling under so many difliculties, were peculiarly 
acceptable. Governor Yale, who in 1714, had 
sent over forty volumes in Mr. Dummer's collec- 
tion, sent to the college, the last year, three hun- 
dred volumes more. It was computed that both 
parcels were worth a hundred pounds sterling. 
This year, 1718, he sent over goods to the amount 
of two hundred pounds sterling, prime cost, with 
the king's picture and arms. He gave intima- 
tions, that he would still add. Three years after, 
he sent the value of a hundred f)ounds more. 
Mr. Dummer, at the same time, sent seventy-six 
volumes of books, twenty of which were folios. 
The whole were estimated at thirty pounds ster- 
ling. Governor Salstonstall and Jahaleel Ben- 
ton, Esq. of Newport, each of them made to the 
college a present of fifty pounds sterling. By 
these and several otlier large donations, the 
school experienced a happy alteration. The col- 
lege which had been erected the last October, was 



SUPPLEMENT. 390 

now so far finished, as to be fit for the reception 
and accommodation of all the students. It was 
a hundred and seventy feet in length, and twenty- 
two feet in breadth. It was three stories high, 
and made a very handsome appearance. It con- 
tained nearly fifty studies in large chambers. It 
was furnished with a convenient hall, library and 
kitchen. The cost of it was about a thousand 
pounds sterling. 

On the 12th of September, ihere was a splen- 
did commencement at New-Haven. Exclusive of 
the trustees, there were present, the Hon. Gurdon 
Salstonstall, Esq. Governor of Connecticut, the 
Hon. William Taylor, Esq. as representing Gov. 
Yale, the Hon. Nathan Gould, Esq. deputy go- 
vernor, several of the assistants and judges of the 
circuit, a large body of the clergy, and numerous 
spectators. 

The trustees, impressed with a sense of gover- 
nor Yale's great generosity, called the collegiate 
school Yale College, and entered a memorial of 
it upon record, of which the following is a transla- 
tion : 

" The trustees of the collegiate school, consti- 
tuted in the splendid town of New-Haven, in 
Connecticut, being enabled by the most generous 
donation of the honorable Elihu Yale Esq. to 
finish the college house, already begun and 
erected, gratefully considering the honor due to 
such and so great a Benefactor and Patron, and 
being desirous, in the best manner, to perpetuate 
to all ages, the memory of so great a benefit, con- 
ferred chiefly on this colony : We the trustees 
having the honor of being entrusted with an af- 
fair of so great importance to the common good 
of the people, especially of this province, do with 
one consent agree, determine, and ordain that 



392 SUPPLEMENT. 

our College House shall be called by the name 
of its munificent Patron, and shall be named Yale 
College: That this Province may keep and pre- 
serve a lasting monument of such a generons Gen- 
tlemen, who by so great benevolence and gene- 
rosity, has provided for their greatest good, and 
the peculiar advantage of the inhabitants, both 
in the present and future ages." 

On the morning of the commencement, this 
testimonial of generosity and gratitude was pub- 
lished with solemn pomp, in the college hall, both 
in Latin and English. The procession then 
moved to the meeting house, and attended the 
public exercises of the day. 

At this commencement, eight young gentle- 
men received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and 
a number were admitted to the degree of Mas- 
ters. 

On the same day on which the commencement 
was holden with so much celebrity at New Ha- 
ven, a dissatisfied party held a kina of commence- 
ment at Weathersfifeld, in the presence of a large 
number of spectators. Five scholars, who were 
originally of the same class with those who now 
received their degrees at New-Haven, performed 
public exercises. Mr. Woodbridge moderated^ 
and he with Mr. Buckingham, and other ministers 
present, signed certificates, expressing their opin- 
ions, that they were worthy of the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts. Mr. Woodbridge, in a formal 
manner, gave them these certificates in the meet- 
ing house ; and this was commonly taken and re- 
presented as giving their degrees.. 

Soon after the commencement, the trustees 
sent a complaisant letter of thanks to governor 
Yale, expressing the deep sense which tliey had 
of his generosity, and certifying him of all the 



SEJPPLEMENT. 393 

transactions at tfie commencement. They also 
sent a letter of thanks to their sjreat friend and 
benefactor, Jeremiah Dummer, Esq. for his late 
donation of books; they also forwarded another 
to General Nicholson, for his donation of books 
in Mr. Dummer's collection. 

The conduct of the two trustees, Woodbridge 
and Buckingham, in holding a commencement 
and giving degrees at Weathersfield, could be 
considered in no other point of light than that of 
a great misdemeanor, and highly reprehensible. 
It was a direct violation of the acts of the trustees 
and the resolutions of the General Assembly, to- 
tally inconsistent with their duty as trustees, and 
calculated in its whole tendency, to keep up di- 
vision and disorder in the college and in the co- 
lony. The scholars, by withdrawing themselves 
from the government and instruction of the col- 
lege, had little claim to its honors. Mr. Wood- 
bridge and Mr. Buckingham, were men of impor- 
tant characters, and their influence in the colony 
was very considerable. 

It was the desire of the legislature and trustees, 
as far as possible to conciliate their friendship 
towards the college, and towards themselves, and 
to quiet the minds of their party. 

When the General Assembly came together in 
October, they therefore passed the following re- 
solutions, to compose the difliculties which had 
arisen on account of the establishment of the 
college at New-Haven, and to affect a good 
agreement among the trustees, and in the colony 
in general. 

1. "That the annual salary allowed out of the 
public treasury to the collegiate school, for the 
year past, shall be distributed to the tutors at 



394 SUPPLEMENT. 

New Haven, Weathersfield, and Saybrook, in 
proportion to the scholars under their tuition.'' 

2. "That the scholars who performed their ex- 
ercises at Weathersfield, shall have their degrees 
at New-Haven, without further examination ; and 
that all scholars entered at the school in Weath- 
ersfield, shall be admitted to the same standing 
in the school in New-Haven." 

3. "That there shall be oOO pounds allowed 
for the building of a State House at Hartford, 
which money shall be procured by the sale of 
land belonging to this colony, and shall be put 
into the hands of s'.ich a committee as the As- 
sembly shall appoint for that use : and it is order- 
ed, that the scholars at Weathersfield, shall come 
doun to New Haven." 

4. " That 50 pounds be procured by the sale of 
such lands as above said, and given to the town 
of Savbrook, for the use of the school in said 
town." 

5. " Tlie Governor and council, at the desire 
of the trustees in said college, shall give such or- 
ders as they shall think proper, for tiie removing 
of the books, belonging to the said college, left 
at Saybrook, to the library provided for the pla- 
cing of them at New-Haven." 

6. " That the several particulars above men- 
tioned, that relate to the said college, be recom- 
mended by the governor and council, to the 
trustees of the said school, for their observation : 
and that said college be carried on, promoted 
and encouraged at New-Haven, and all due care 
taken for its flourishing." 

The trustees came fully into the measures re- 
commended by the General Assembly. They 
ordered, " that if any of those five scholars should 
produce to the rector, a testimony under the 



SUPPLEMENT. 395 

hands of any two of the trustees, of their having 
been approved as qualified for a degree, the rec- 
tor, upon easy and reasonable terms, should give 
them a diploma in the usual form, and that tiieir 
names should be inserted in the class, as they 
were at first placed. This was finally accom- 
plished, and the consequences were happy. 

Upon the previous desire of the trustees, the 
governor and council met at Saybrook, in De- 
cember following, and granted a warrant to the 
sheriff, authorising him to deliver the books to 
the trustees : But notwithstanding the pacific 
measures which the legislature had adopted, there 
was opposition to the removal of them. The 
sheriff when he came to the house where they 
had been kept, found it filled and surrounded 
with men, determined to resist him. He, with 
his attendants, nevertheless, forcibly entered the 
house, and delivered the books according to his 
orders, and they were conveyed to New-Haven : 
but such was the resistance and confusion at- 
tending the transaction, that about two hundred 
and fifty of the most valuable books and several 
important papers, were conveyed away by per- 
sons unknown, and no discovery could ever be 
made of them. 

Note (a) 
The episcopal church in Stratford is the oldest 
of that denomination in the state. Of the origin 
of this, an account was given in the first volume 
of this history. But, episcopacy made very little 
progress in Connecticut, until after the declara- 
tion of rector Cutler, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Wetmore 
and Mr. Brown, for episcopacy, in 1722. Num- 
bers of Mr. Johnson'^ and Mr. Wetmore's hear- 
ers professed episcopacy with them, and set up 



396 SUPPLEalENT- 

the worship of God, according to the manner of 
the church of England, in West and North Ha- 
ven Mr. afterwards Dr. Johnson, was a gentle- 
men distinguished for literature, of popular ta- 
lents and engaging manners. In 1724, after 
receiving episcopal ordination in England, he re- 
turned to Stratford, and under his ministry, to 
that and the neighboring churches of that de- 
nomination, they were increased. 

Note (b) 

The trustees, wishing to remove all inconvenien- 
ces and to put the college under the best advan- 
tages, convened the next year in March, and 
made choice of the Rev. Timothy Cutler of Strat- 
ford, to be the resident rector until their next 
meeting. He came almost directly to New-Ha- 
ven, and entered on the instruction and govern- 
ment of the college. When the trustees met at 
the next commencement, they voted, " That Mr. 
Cutler's service hitherto, in the place of a rector 
was to their satisfaction, and therefore they de- 
sired him te continue in it." 

While the trustees were attempting to put the 
college upon the best establishment, the legisla- 
ture had enacted for their encouragement, that 
three hundred pounds worth of new lands should 
be sold, and that forty pounds annually should 
be paid to the instructors for the term of seven 
years. 

To make cempensation to the people of Strat- 
ford, for the removal of their minister, the trustees 
agreed to give tht m Mr. Cutler's house and home 
lot, which they purchased for eigty-four pounds ; 
sterling. To accommodate Mr. Cutler and his 
family, at New-Haven, they built the rector's 
house, which, with the lands on which it was 



SUPPLEMENT. 39T 

^jrected, cost them two hundred and sixty pounds 
sterling. 

Rector Cutler was popular, acceptable to the 
legislature and the clergy, and the students were 
quiet under his instructions and government. 
The college appeared now to be firmly establish- 
ed, and in a flourishing and happy state. But, 
from a quarter entirely unexpected, it suifered a 
sudden and great change. At the commence- 
ment, it was discovered, that the rector, and Mr. 
Brown, one of the tutors, had embraced episco- 
pacy, and that they and two of the neighboring 
ministers, Mr. Johnson of West-Haven, and Mr. 
Wetmore of North Hav^ n, had agreed to re- 
nounce the communion of the churches in Con- 
necticut, and to take a voyage to England and 
receive episcopal ordination. Scarcely any thing 
<:^ould have been more surprising to the trustees, 
or the people in general, as they had no suspi- 
-cions that the rector was inclining to episcopacy, 
as there was no episcopalian minister fixed in the 
colony, and as very few of the laity were inclined 
4o that persuasion. 

Oovernor Salstonstall was a great man, well 
versed in the episcopal controversy, and the tra- 
dition has been, that he judged it of such gene- 
ral importance, in the then circumstances of the 
colony, that the point sh<»i}l(i be well underst<>od, 
that he publicly disputed it with Mr. Cutler, at 
the commencement, and that he was judged by 
the clergy and spectators in general, to have 
been superior to him as to argument, and gave 
them much satisfaction relative to the subject. 
It was supposed that several other gentlemen of 
considerable character amonj? the clergy, were 
in the scheme of declaring for episcopacy and of 
^^arrying over the people of Connecticut in gene- 

34 



398 SUPPLEMENT. 

ral, to that persuasion. But as they had beea 
more private in their measures, and had made no 
open profession of episcopacy, when they saw 
the consequences with respect to the rector, and 
the other ministers, that the people would not 
hear them, but dismissed them from their service, 
they were glad to conceal their former purposes, 
and to continue in their respective places. 

The trustees at the commencement, passed no 
resolve relative to the rector, but gave themselves 
time to know the general opinion of the people, 
and to consult the legislature on the subject. 
But, meeting in October, while the Assembly, 
were in session at New-Haven, they came to the 
following resolutions : " That the trustees, in 
faithfulness to the trust reposed in them, do ex- 
cuse the Rev. Mr. Cutler from all further services 
as rector of Yale College: That the trustees ac- 
cept of the resignation which Mr. Brown hath 
made as tutor." Voted, " That all such persons 
as shall hereafter be elected to the office of rec- 
tor or tutor in this college, shall before they are 
accepted therein, before the trustees, declare 
their assent to the confession of faith owned and 
assented to by the elders and messengers of the 
churchas in this colony of Connecticut, assembled 
by delegation at Say brook, Sept. 9th, 1708 : and 
confirmed by act of the General Assembly : and 
shall particularly give satisfaction to them, of the 
soundness of their faith, in opposition to Arminian 
and prelatical corruptions, or of any other of 
dangerous consequence to the purity and peace 
of our churches : But if it cannot be before the 
trustees, it shall be in the power of any two trus- 
tees, with the rector, to examine a tutor, with re- 
spect to the confession and soundness of his faith, 
in opposition to such corruptions." They also 



SUPPLEMENT. 3^ 

voted, "That unon just ground of suspicion of 
the rector's or tiitorV inrlination to Arminian or 
prelatic principleis, a meeting of the trustees shall 
be called, as soon as may be, to examine into the 
case."* 

. Mr. Cutler and Mr. Brown, having been thus 
dismissed from their services at the college, and 
Mr. Johnson about the same time, having been 
dismissed from his pastoral relation, soon after 
went to England, with a view to receive episco- 
pal ordination. They all received holy orders. 
While they were in England, they visited the 
universities, and were received by the vice chan- 
cellor of each and the heads of houses with pecu- 
liar marks of esteem. Mr. Cutler had the degree 
of Doctor in Divinity conferred upon him, and 
Mr. Johnson that of Master of Arts in both uni- 
versities. Dr. Cutler returned in the character 
of a missionary, from the society to the episcopal 
church in Boston. Mr. Johnson, upon his return 
about the year 1724, became the fixed missionary 
of the church at Stratf^:>rd. Mr. Brown died soon 
after ho had received orders. Mr. Wetmore 
about this time, made a voyage to England, re- 
ceived episcopal ordination, and was fixed as a 
missionary at Rye, in the province of New- York. 
He enjoyed a long ministry, and died at Rye, 
1760. These were the first of the clergy who 
declared for episcopacy in Connecticut, and were 
very much the fethors «jf the episcopal church in 
Connecticut and New-England. 



400 supplement. 

Note (c.) 
At a meeting of the president and fellows at^ 
Yale College, November 21st, 1753 : 

PRESENT, 

The Rev. Thomas Clap, President. 

The Rev. Messrs. Jared Elliot, Joseph Noyes, 
Anthony Stoddard, Benjamin Lord, William Rus- 
sell, Thomas Ruggles, Solomon Williams, and 
Noah Herbert, Fellows. 

" Whereas, the principal design of the pious 
founders of the college, was to educate and train 
up youth for the ministry in the churches of this 
colony, according to the doctrine, discipline and 
mode of worship received and practised in them; 
and they particularly ordered, that the students 
should be established in the principles of religion, 
and grounded in polemical divinity, according to 
the asembly's catechism. Dr. Ames' Medulla, and 
Cases of Conscience, and that special care should 
be taken in the education of the students, not to 
suflfer them to be instructed in any different prin- 
ciples or doctrines; and that all proper measures 
should be taken to promote the power and purity 
of religion, and the best edification and peace of 
these churches. 

" We, the successors of the said founders, being 
in our own judgments of the same principles in 
religion with our predecessors, and esteeming our- 
selves bound in fidelity to the trust committed to 
us, to carry on the same design, and improve all 
the college estate committed to us, for the pur- 
poses for which it was given, do explicitly and 
fully resolve, as follows, viz. 

" 1. That the scriptures of the Old and N-^w 
Testament are the only rule of faith and practice, 
in all matters of religion, and the standard by 



SUPPLEMENT. 401 

which all doctrines, principles and practices in 
religion are to be tried and judged. 

"2. That the assembly's catechism and confes- 
sion of faith, received and established in the chur- 
ches of this colony, (which is an abrigement of 
the Westminster Confession) contain a true and 
just sumniary of the most important doctrines of 
the christian religion: and that the true sense of 
the sacred scriptures is justly collected and sum- 
med up in these compositions : and all expositions 
of scripture, pretending to produce any doctrines 
or positions contrary to the doctrines laid down in 
these composures, we are of opinion are wrong 
and erroneous. 

" If any doubt or dispute should happen to 
arise about the true meaning and sense of any 
particular terms or phrases in the said compo- 
sures, they shall be understood and taken in the 
same sense in which such terms and phrases have 
been generally used in the writings of protestant 
divines, and especially in their public confessions 
of faith. 

"4. That we will always take all proper and 
reasonable measures, such as christian prudence 
shall direct, to continue and propagate the doc- 
trines, contained in these summaries of religion, 
in this college and transmit them to all future 
successions and generations; and to use the like 
measures to prevent the contrary doctrines from 
prevailing in this society. 

" 5. That every person who shall hereafter be 
chosen president, fellow, professor of divinity, or 
tutor, in this college, shall, before he enters upon 
the execution of his office, publicly give his con- 
sent to the said catechism and confession of faith, 
as containinsf a just summary of the christian re- 
ligion, as before expressed ; and renounce all doc- 

34* 



402 SUPPLEMENT. 

trines or principles contrary thereunto ; and shall 
pass through such an examination as the corpora- 
tion shall think proper, in order to their being 
fully satisfied that he shall do it truly without any 
evasion or equivocation. 

" 6. That since every such officer is admitted 
into his post upon the condition aforesaid, if he 
shall afterwards change his sentiments, entertain 
any contrary set of principles or scheme of reli- 
gion, and disbelieve the doctrines contained in 
the said catechism and confession of faith, he can- 
)t, consistent with common honesty and fidelity, 
)ntinue in his post, but is bound to resign it. 
" 7. That when it is suspected by any of the 
orporation that any such officer is fallen from 
le profession of his faith, as before mentioned, 
nd is gone into any contrary scheme of princi- 
ples, he shall be examined by the corporation. 

" 8. That inasmuch as it is especially necessary 
hat a professor of divinity should be sound in the 
aith, besides the common tests before mentioned, 
le shall publicly exhibit a full confession of his 
'aith, drawn up by him in his own words and 
')hrases, and shall in full and express terms re- 
lounce all such errors as shall in any considera- 
ble mea^Jure prevail at the time of his introduc- 
tion. And if any doubt or question should arise, 
about any doctrine or position, whether it be truth 
or error, it shall be judged by the word of God, 
taken in that sense of it which is contained and 
declared in the said catechism and confession of 
faith, as being a just exposition of the word of 
God, in those doctrines or articles which are con- 
tained in them. 

" 9. That every person who shall be chosen 
president, fellow, professor of divinity, or tutor in 
this college, shall give his consent to the rules of 



SUPPLEMENT. 405 

church discipline, established in the ecclesiastical 
constitution of the churches of this colony : It 
being understood, that our ecclesiastical consti- 
tution may admit of additions or alterations, in 
such circumstances as accordmg to our confession 
of faith, are to be regulated by the light of na- 
ture, and the rules of christian prudence. And 
it is especially declared, that if any person shall 
deny the validity of the ordination of the minis- 
ters of this colony, commonly called presbyterian 
or congregational, or hold thnt it is necessary or 
convenient that such ministers should be re or- 
dain> d, in order to render their administrations 
valid, it shall be deemed an essential departure 
from our ecclesiastical constitution, and incon- 
sistent with the intentions of the founders of this 
college, that sueh a person should be chosen an 
officer in it. 

"iO. Yet, we suppose that it is not inconsis- 
tent with the general design of the founders, and 
it is agreeable to our own inclinations, to admit 
protestants of all denominations to send their 
children to receive the advantages of an educa- 
tion in the college: provided that while they are 
here, they conform to all the laws and orders 
©fit." 

All the fellows who have been admitted since 
the above solemn act and declaration, have pub- 
licly given their consent to the catechism and 
confession of faith, in the subsequent form, viz : 

^' I, A. B being chosen a fellow of Yale Col- 
lege, do hereby declare, that I believe that the 
assembly's catechism, and confession of faith, re- 
ceived and estjiblished in this colony, and in this 
college, contain a true and just summary of the 
most important doctrines of the christian religion .^ 



404 SUPPLEMENT. 

and that tho true sense of the sacred scriptures is 
justly collected and summed up in those compo- 
sitions. And all expositions of scripture pretend- 
wfx t» deduce any doctrine or position contrary 
to the said doctrines laid down in these compo- 
sures, I believe are wrong and erroneous, and I 
will always take all reasonable measures, and 
such as christian prudence may direct, in my 
place and station, to continue and propogate the 
doctrines contained in tliose summaries of religion 
in this college, and transmit them to all future 
successions and generations: and use tlie like 
measures to prevent the contrary doctrines from 

evailing in this society. 

"I do also consent to the rules of church disci- 
i> ine, estlablished in the ecclesiastical constitu- 
on of the churches of this colony." 

Note (d.) 
An early provision was therefore made, by 
.^w, in Massachusetts and Conne(tticut, for the 
support of the ministry. In Connecticut all per- 
sons were obliged by law, to contribute to the 
support of the church, as well as of the common- 
vealt'j. All rates respecting the support of min- 
ii^ters, or any ecclesiastical aflbirs, were to be 
made ind collected in the same manner as the 
,rates of the respective towns. Special care was 
taken, that all persons should attend the means of 
public instruction. The law obliged them to be 
j)resent at tho public worship on the Lord's day, 
and upon :dl days of public fnsting and prayer, 
and of thanksii:ivings appointed by civil autiiority, 
on penalty of a fine of five shdiinas f "r every in- 
stance of neglect. Th^' C'MiiEjregational churches 
were adopted and established by law ; but pro- 



SITPPLEMENT. 46?^ 

\ 

vision was made that all sober, orthodox per- 
sons, dissenting from them, should upon the mani- 
festation of it to the general court, be allowed 
peaceably to worship in their own way. It was 
enacted, " That no persons within this colony, 
shall in any wise embody themselves into church 
estate, without consent of the general court, 
and approbation of neighboring elders." The 
laws also, prohibited that any ministry, or church 
administration, should be entertained, or attend- 
ed by the inhabitants of any plantation in the 
colony, distinct and separate from, and in oppo- 
sition to, that which was openly and publicly ob- 
served and dispensed, by the approved minister of 
the place; except it was by the approbation oi 
the court and neighboring churches. The pe- 
nalty for every breach of this act, was five 
pounds. 



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